July 30 , 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



487 



And I should like to invite your attention to some methods 

 for facilitating and increasing- such exhibits. 



Exhibitions, besides their educational value, are very 

 useful as advertisements, and I also want you to view them 

 in this light. If honey could be produced as cheaply as 

 sugar, it might sooner be classed amongst the necessities of 

 life, and, as such, would require no especial advertising ; 

 and even now it runs sugar so closely in price that, its 

 superiority over the latter for many uses considered, it is 

 conceivable that if placed prominently, attractivelv and 

 frequently before the public eye, it would not be long in 

 commending itself more than at present to the public palate. 

 That is just what we want, and we must not neglect 

 any of the means at our disposal for effecting this object. 

 Of course we could all sell more honey if we could get it, 

 but I want to see both the demand and the price improve; 

 and-one will assuredly follow the other. 



Without organized exhibitions the public would be de- 

 pendent upon the exhibits in their local grocers' stores, 

 alas ! too often a sorry recommendation. 



I want them to get to know what honey ought to be, 

 both comb and extracted. I want them educated in a nice 

 discrimination between clean honey and dirty honey ; be- 

 tween thick and thin honey ; between pure and adulterated 

 honey, as you and I are educated. Then they will refuse 

 the leak}' or travel-stained combs, the thin, badly extracted 

 or adulterated honey ; a greater uniformity of excellence 

 will result, because we shall all be on our mettle to send our 

 honey to market in the best possible condition, and the 

 adulterator will sooner be discovered. Then will the de- 

 mand for good honey increase, and the slipshod bee-keeper 

 or dishonest trader be left out in the cold or have to amend 

 his ways ; and then we may confidently speculate on higher 

 and more uniform prices. 



We can also ourselves learn a great deal from honey 

 exhibits, and, alas for poor human nature, more especially 

 from competitive exhibits. I have no doubt that if the 

 number of honey exhibitors at State and County Fairs 

 could be multiplied, it would conduce to far greater excel- 

 lence in all kinds and grades of honey. This, as I have en- 

 deavored to show, would give us bee-keepers better times ; 

 and, as the prosperity of a people is made up of the prosper- 

 ity of its units, so would the State be benefited. 



And here I would touch on the encouragement which 

 should be given to honey exhibits by the State. I am not 

 competent to enter into a consideration of the objects and 

 the means at the disposal of our State Agricultural Society. 

 I only wish to throw out the suggestion that the more in- 

 ducements they can offer honey exhibitors, the greater 

 number of exhibitors will they attract ; and, possibly, by 

 an inconsiderably increased expense, an important advance 

 in their objects might be achieved. 



An exhibitor's expenses are not light, especially if he 

 has to ship his honey from a distance. And when the value 

 of his time is considered, I am not surprised that many 

 shrink from the risk. 



A fairly large exhibit can scarcely be put up by a coun- 

 try bee-keeper at our State Fair under an outlay for freight, 

 cartage and help of about S30 to $50, irrespective of the bee- 

 keeper's own time ; at least such is my own experience. Of 

 course we must not expect a guarantee of indemnification ; 

 I only suggest that the State might help us a little more if 

 we are willing to help ourselves. 



To those of you who have not yet become exhibitors at 

 the State Fair let me throw out the suggestion that you just 

 trj' once. Not necessarily a large exhibit, but an excellent 

 one. You could send up a case or two of different kinds of 

 comb honey, or a box of extracted honey in glass at an ex- 

 pense of about a dollar ; you need not come yourself, though 

 of course we should all be glad to see you ; and you might 

 gain SIO or 520 in premiums. Then you would come next 

 year yourself with a much larger show, and I can assure 

 you of a great welcome from present exhibitors. 



If there were more entries made, we should certainly 

 receive greater recognition from the Fair Committee. 



As I think there must be some here who are not well 

 acquainted with the various classes of the products of the 

 apiary in which they can c.ompete for premiums at the State 

 Fair, I have brought some of this year's premium lists 

 which are here on the table and entirely at your disposal. 

 Mr. Gordon, superintendent of our building, who I am glad 

 to see is here, will, I am sure, with his usual good nature, 

 answer any question for your guidance. 



I.:, But there is another kind of exhibition which I feel 

 sure we might try on our own account ; and that is a per- 

 manent honey exhibit in the city. In fact, a honey ex- 

 change, where honey would be bought and sold, wholesale 



and retail, at fixed prices for various grades of honey with 

 the assurance of obtaining the best possible prices, and an 

 advance if needed. There would be full security for his 

 honey to the producer and to the buyer for the purity of the 

 honej'. I can assure you it is no infrequent thing to see a 

 farmer bee-keeper bring up a load of excellent honey with 

 his team, and, after applying at two or three grocers' stores, 

 sell the lot to one of them at 20 percent less than he would 

 get if he took it to a reputable commission firm. 



Or our honey exchange might take the form of a honey 

 department in connection with some large grocery concern ; 

 and in either case my proposition is distinctly a business 

 one, and one that would be readily backed by a bank. 



I feel sure that if this Association would appoint a 

 really live committee we could have a honey exchange, a 

 permanent honey exhibit, established in time to receive 

 next year's Minnesota crop. Branches would of course be 

 established at some of the larger provincial towns to receive 

 the near-by crop, but in all cases exhibition would be our 

 advertisement, combination our strength, and good man- 

 agement our salvation. 





Our Bee-Heepin§ Sisters 



CouJucted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, III. 



She Lives With Her Bees. 



J 



I have enjoyed our department in the American Bee 

 Journal so thoroughly as a " silent partner " that I had not 

 thought you would care to hear from me. I always enjoy 

 the " Reliable " reading. That is my way of attending the 

 National Convenion and other bee-keepers' conventions, 

 and I feel almost a personal acquaintance with all the writ- 

 ers, and have often wished I could write as others can. I 

 have not a faculty for expressing my thoughts in writing, 

 and, besides, I have very weak nerves and am obliged to 

 write with a pencil. Death has claimed so many of our old 

 members this year, that it makes one feel sad. They were 

 like old friends. Yes, dear sister, you are fortunate indeed 

 to have Dr. Miller to advise and help you. May you keep 

 him many years. I always enjoy his department. 



I have kept bees about 13 years. My son started me in 

 bee-keeping and I had everything to learn. I made a great 

 many failures, but finally became reasonably successful. I 

 have about 40 colonies this spring. They are in as good 

 condition as can be expected. They have had plenty of 

 dandelions to work on. The rain spoiled the " Hum of the 

 bees in the apple-bloom," and now white clover is coming 

 on, but it rains and the wind blows night and day. 



I do all my work in my apiary, also scrape all the sec- 

 tions and pack all the honey in 12-pound cases, and what I 

 don't sell here at home I ship West. Yes, I stamp my name 

 on my cases, but not on the sections. I am the only bee- 

 keeper within the city limits, and I very seldom see any of 

 the farmers that keep bees. They have no use for a bee- 

 paper. They understand the whole business and bring 

 their honey to the stores just as it comes from the hives ! 



I put up my own shipping-cases and thought I was 

 quite a bee-keeper until I read Sister Griffith's letter. It 

 took all the conceit out of me, but it was grand. I am 60 

 years old. How happy I would be if I thought I could care 

 for my bees till I am 75. It won't be long. Years go so 

 rapidly. I live out-of-doors with my bees all summer. 



Crawford Co., Wis. Mrs. Paul Barrette. 



If the others enjoy your letter as much as I have, you 

 need not worry about not having the faculty for expressing 

 your thoughts in writing. 



Bee-Keeping- in Early Days— Clipping Queens. 



The American Bee Journal has always been interesting 

 to me, and for years of its youth I was a subscriber to it, 

 but for some cause it was discontinued till I sent for it this 

 year. I see it was established the year I was married, so it 

 is of long-standing. 



The Sisters' department is interesting. It is always 

 the first I look for when the paper comes, and I hope it may 

 continue. I can hardly remember the time when I did not 



