166 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



■was a rather pleasant surprise to me to find a 

 very pretty lunch-room at the Pere Marquette 

 station in Toledo, every thing nice, and prices 

 as low as you would find them on almost any 

 street in Toledo or any other city. As in the 

 ticket office, they had pleasant capable women 

 to wait on customers. This Pere Marquette 

 depot in Toledo is, by the way, a model insti- 

 tution all around. Even the baggage-man is 

 pleasant, quick, and good-natured when pas- 

 sengers are in a hurry to catch a train at some 

 other depot. 



I reached Traverse City just in time to be 

 one of the first at the convention. I went a 

 little ahead of time, thinking I could have a 

 chat with the early comers. To my surprise 

 there was not only quite a lot of the men-folks 

 but half a dozen women also. It happened 

 the train was late that brought President Hil- 

 ton, so we had a very pleasant social for two 

 hours or more while we waited for him. Per- 

 haps some of you may think it a little strange 

 when I tell you that I have not even yet got 

 over my bashfulness as a boy so it is easy for 

 me to take the lead in getting acquainted ; but 

 under the circumstances I felt that it rather 

 devolved on me to take the lead ; and I assure 

 you I found some extra nice people. A little 

 later Bro. Hutchinson photographed the whole 

 crowd out in front of the hall. It is not only 

 a most excellent picture, but there is one fea- 

 ture of it that is novel. He ' ' took ' ' us during 

 a snowstorm, and you can see the flakes all 

 over our clothing, and the beautiful white 

 snow down about our feet. 



In shaking hands with the ladies I met a 

 very bright, vivacious woman who looked so 

 exceedingly pleasant I wondered if I had not 

 met her before. A little later I found out why 

 she felt already acquainted with one she had 

 never seen until that day. Two or three years 

 before, she got hold of our ABC book, and 

 she got the bee-fever for sure. She told me 

 she studied the book day and night. She got 

 some bees, and enjoyed working with them in 

 verifying the statements in the book, as she 

 never enjoyed any thing before in all her life. 

 Of course, her friends laughed at her, and 

 predicted failures, etc. ; but she is one of the 

 energetic kind, and when she gets started on 

 something, especially something she likes, 

 there is no give up about it. Well, almost 

 while she was a novice — a beginner, in fact — 

 she secured from one hive in one season ten 

 24-pound cases of CO tub honey. I believe the 

 sections did rot all weigh quite a pound ; but 

 there was pretty well toward 2-10 lbs. of comb 

 honey from that one hive that one season. 

 She is up near my ranch that I told you about, 

 and the bees commenced on apple-bloom. I 

 have not told you much about the apples in 

 the Traverse region, but it is bound to be a 

 great apple country. The bees commenced 

 on apple-bloom, and she actually had some 

 work done in sections. Then raspberry fol- 

 lowed right on, then clover, then basswood 

 and willow-herb ; and the wild raspberry, if I 

 am correct, gave honey more or less, clear on 

 through the whole season. In fact, I saw- 

 honey-bees on the raspberry-blossoms when I 

 was chopping in the woods in October. Per- 



haps I have not remembered all the different 

 sources, but that season there was honey right 

 along from apple-bloom until frost killed the 

 wild flowers, and a good strong flow at that. 

 This one colony that did so well was one of 

 18 — that is, she had 18 in the spring to start 

 with. Well, the 18 and their increase gave, 

 if I am correct, over 3000 lbs. of honey, most- 

 ly comb. Do you wonder she was anxious to 

 see the man who wrote the ABC book, or 

 that she felt acquainted with him without be- 

 ing introduced ? I think this bigjieldwas 

 three years ago. I questioned her a good deal 

 about it. Did other bee-keepers notice that 

 the season was any thing remarkable ? I rath- 

 er think not. None of the bee-keepers at the 

 convention d'd anything like what Mrs. Jack- 

 son did. Was it the season, the locality, or 

 the bee-keeper? I do not quite remember, 

 but I think Mrs. Jackson is a farmer's wife, 

 and the mother of several children ; but her 

 enthusiasm was what brought the honey crop. 

 And this thing has happened, not only with 

 bees but with fruit, with poultry, and with al- 

 most all other rural industries. A beginner, 

 comparatively, with enthusiasm and plenty of 

 help in the way of good books and periodi- 

 cals, often outstrips the veterans. Yes, and 

 it is a sad fact that some of these veterans can 

 not, to save their lives, do over again what 

 they did when they were just learning. The 

 seasons may not be as good as they used to be 

 15 or 20 years ago — that is, this may have 

 something to do with it ; but failures are 

 more often because we lose enthusiasm than 

 because nature has withheld her rewards. 



The photo I mentioned contains a picture 

 of Mrs. Jackson with all the rest. It will be 

 mailed to any one for 75 cts. Address W. Z. 

 Hutchinson, Flint, Mich. 



Prof. Rankin, of the Agricultural College 

 at Lansing, gave us r.juite a little help, espe- 

 cially in the matter of foul brood ; and it is a 

 sad fact that foul brood is pretty well scatter- 

 ed through many parts of Michigan. Just a 

 few years ago, somebody, whose name I do 

 not remember, moved a carload of bees up 

 into the Traverse region, and these bees were 

 affected with foul brood. When he discover- 

 ed how great was the task of eradicating it 

 he went away and left them to scatter through 

 the woods, and damage the industry in that 

 locality for years to come. The transaction 

 was no profit to himself, but a great calamity 

 to that part of the State. May be you think 

 I am a little rough when I say that the man 

 who deliberately does a thing of this kind 

 ought to go to the penitentiary. They are al- 

 ready discussing better laws and energetic 

 measures for the suppression of foul brood. 

 We had some sad stories, I tell you, of what 

 it may do in a locality when allowed to go on 

 unchecked. 



Mrs. Jackson has promised to give me a re- 

 port of her big yield of honey, but I am afraid 

 she has not as much enthusiasm in writing 

 for the journals as she has for getting crops 

 of honey. 



The next meeting is to be held at Petosky. 

 The date is not yet decided on. I asked if it 

 was not a mistake to keep the State conven- 



