112 



April, 1912. 



American l^ee Jonrnal 



good enough for them is good enough 

 for me." 



It is a safe bet that the pumpkin 

 farmer never had time to read the 

 papers ! 



When I think of the methods prac- 

 tised by many of my acquaintances — 

 farmers, fruit-growers, and (I am sorry 

 to say it) quite a few bee-keepers 

 among the rest — I am forced to the 

 conckision that they must be descend- 

 ants of the " pumpkin farmer." 



Now, such methods may have been 

 all right in our grandfathers' day, but, 

 my friend, they won't carry you ahead 

 in this day of progress and fierce com- 

 petition. For all that we hear of the 

 brotherhood of man, this is still the 

 day of " the survival of the fittest." The 

 man who is best equipped for his work 

 —no matter what his line of endeavor — 

 is the one who goes to the top, while 

 the unfit is crowded down and out. 

 And so, my brother bee-keeper, you 

 can not afford not to read the bee- 

 papers, the bee-books, the supply cata- 

 logs, and all other publications that 

 may help you to a greater success in 

 your chosen occupation. Others are 

 preparing each year for greater and 

 more intelligent efforts, and in self- 

 defense, if for no other reason, you 

 must do the same. 



Now, Mr. Editor, you wish to know 

 in what way reading the bee-papers 

 has helped me. I will say that it has 

 helped me in bee-keeping — in every 

 phase of the business, from the greatest 

 to the least; but the most important 

 point has been the management of out- 

 apiaries. 



In the year 1900, my father and I 

 were keeping bees in south Texas. 

 Our colonies had increased by natural 

 swarming to 200, all kept in one yard. 

 Ori the strength of our success, a 

 neighbor had put in an apiary of about 

 the same number just across the creek, 

 and our surplus, which had been very 

 satisfactory, was cut down until it 

 could hardly be termed a surplus. It 

 did not take us long to decide that we 

 would either have to split up our one 

 yard into several, and locate them at a 

 distance, or else go out of business. 

 Of course, the former plan appealed to 

 me much more than the latter. But 

 how to care for the swarms at the dis- 

 tant yards—that was the question 

 that was keeping me awake at night to 

 answer. The only way I knew of at 

 that time was to be on hand to hive 

 each swarm as it issued. It was very 

 evident that my father or myself could 

 not be at every yard every day, and as 

 none of the locations would support 

 enough bees to justify hiring a man to 

 watch for swarms throughout the long 

 swarming period, we were " stumped," 

 for sure. 



Of course, I knew there was no situa- 

 tion so difficult that there wasn't a way 

 out, if one only went about it in the 



right manner, and say ? Do I need 



to tell you that about this time I be- 

 came very deeply interested in bee- 

 papers, bee-books, and everything that 

 had anything to say about swarm con- 

 trol ? You should have seen me trying 

 out the various methods of clipping, 

 shaking, etc. Of course, there were 

 many discouraging failures, but finally 

 I evolTed a plan from the many, which 

 suited our conditions to a dot, and then 



BearPkoof Apiary of Signor Rigotti. in trentino. Italy. 



you should have seen the out-apiaries 

 spring up like mushrooms in a night, 

 all over the woods, until we had 8 

 yards, containing all together nearly 

 500 colonies. My father went back to 

 the management of the farm work, and 



1 was able to care for the entire lot 

 (except in the rush season of extract- 

 ing) with greater ease than had both 

 of us the one yard by the old plan. 

 Did it pay me to read the papers ? 

 Well, " I should smile !" 



When we first went to south Texas, 

 honey was retailing at 40 to 50 cents 

 per gallon, and no demand at that. 

 Again, we had recourse to the experi- 

 ences of others (through the bee-pa- 

 pers), and by adapting the same to our 

 local needs, we soon had prices on an 

 upward trend. When we left, 10 years 

 later, extracted honey was bringing 8 

 to 10 cents per pound; bulk comb 

 honey, 10 to 12yi cents; sections, 12 

 to 18 cents — with an eager demand for 

 all we could produce. 



If a person expects to make a perfect 

 success of his business, no matter what, 

 he must keep his enthnsiasm and love 

 for that particular line of work at 

 white heat ; and I know of no better 

 way of doing this than by keeping in 

 touch with enthusiastic and successful 

 fellow-workers. One can not do this, 

 however, without taking time to do a 

 little reading. 



In conclusion, I will say that while I 

 have the management of an 85-acre 

 fruit-orchard, I find time to read 2 

 magazines on fruit-culture ; 2 on bee- 

 culture ; one on hunting and trapping ; 



2 farm papers ; all the books I can get 

 on the above subjects ; 2 newspapers, 

 and quite a lot of general reading mat- 

 ter. I do not have to neglect my work 

 to do this, as my ranch will show for 

 itself. 



Bridgeport, Wash. 



Bears in Italian Apiary, Etc. 



BY C. r. DAIlANT. 



America is known all over the world 

 as the country of new things, but it is 

 especially known in Europe for the 

 very things that it is lacking today. 

 Indian wars, buffalo hunts, and new 

 discoveries are easily believed of 

 America, and a bear story would not 

 look out of place to any one. That is 



why the picture of a bear killed in an 

 apiary owned by W. O. Victor, in 

 southern Texas, in 1006, and published 

 in the American Bee Journal and the 

 Frenchedition of the " Hive and Honey- 

 Bee," did not attract undue attention. 

 Such wild happenings might be still 

 expected of America, in spite of her 

 sky-scrapers and her millionaires. 



But we think of Italy as the country 

 of arts, music, statues, paintings, fine 

 monuments. We think of Venice, the 

 Queen of the Adriatic, as one of the 

 centers of civilization. My astonish- 

 ment was therefore great when I read 

 in I'Apicoltore of January last the in- 

 formation that bears — yes, wild,- un- 

 tamed bears — are still in existence 

 within 75 miles of Venice, in the moun- 

 tains which separate Italy from .Austria. 

 L'Apicoltore contains the picture of 

 an apiary under a shed, fenced with 

 iron gratings to protect it against the 

 depredations of bears. The proprietor, 

 Signor Rigotti, who furnishes the pic- 

 ture, gives an account, of which I will 

 translate the most interesting points. 



This apiary is located in a lonely 

 valley, 820 meters (2700 feet) above sea- 

 level, where heather blooms from De- 

 cember until April. This locality is 

 called Pezzolo, at the foot of the 

 Brenta hills, in Trentino. For a few 

 years past it has become the home of 

 bears which at intervals destroy entire 

 apiaries. 



In one night a bear destroyed 24 

 strong colonies of bees for the above- 

 named apiarist. In three nights he did 

 away with, or caused to be wasted, 

 some 50(1 pounds of honey, and the 

 hives, broken to pieces, were worth- 

 less for use in the future. 



More bees having been purchased, 

 and the apiary recuperated, on another 

 night in June the apiary was again 

 visited by this beast, or some other, 

 and again destroyed. Then the thought 

 occurred to Mr. Rigotti to fence his 

 bee-shed with iron-railings, and to 

 cover the roof with large fiat stones. 

 He did so. The bear came again, but 

 was unable to break through the fence. 

 However, he managed to pull away 

 some of the rocks and made a hole in 

 the roof, but was deterred from jump- 

 ing in, probably from the fear of being 

 entrapped. This ended his efforts, but 

 within a few months a similar acci- 

 dent was reported at another locality 



