':i86i ^^ 



43d YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, NOV. 12, 1903. 



No. 46. 





Editorial Comments 



] 



Let YouF Light Shine. 



Bee-keepers read the pages of bee-papers to get light from them. 

 Fortunately, bee-keepers as a class are exceedingly unselfish, and 

 when one of them gets new light upon any point he is not only will- 

 ing, but anxious, that others should have the same light. There are, 

 however, many who seem in some way to have gotten the idea that 

 unless they are very prominent as bee-keepers, or unless they have 

 made some great discovery, their contributions will not be welcomed. 

 Such is very far from the fact. The most obscure bee-keeper in the 

 land may happen upon some improvement that the veterans will be 

 glad to learn. So don't be afraid to add your light, even if you think 

 it be a very little light. The stars don't refuse to shine because they 

 are not as big as the sun. Tell us of your successes, and even of your 

 failures. No matter how trilling it may be, if you have made a gain 

 by any little improvement in management, let us know about it. It's 

 the little things, when all put together, that help to make successful 

 bee-keeping. Remember that " trifles make perfection, but perfection 

 is no trifle." 



The Value of Drones. 



This is still a matter in which opinions are divided, although the 

 majority probably agree that it is well to suppress their production. 

 There are, however, some who claim that drones are of value aside 

 from the matter of fecundating the queens, it being claimed that they 

 aid in keeping up the heat of the colony. There can be no disputing 

 the fact that drones produce heat, but no one claims that a given 

 weight of drones will produce more heat than the same weight of 

 workers. Yet this seems the sort of reasoning that justifies the pres- 

 ence of drones: 



"A pound of drones will produce as much heat as a pound of 

 workers ; therefore, a pound of drones to keep up heat in the hive 

 will release a pound of workers to go afield, and the amount of honey 

 stored by this pound of workers will be just so much added to the 

 crop as a gain from the presence of drones." 



It seems just a bit strange that men otherwise level-headed should 

 accept such reasoning as conclusive. For a pound of workers in place 

 of the pound of drones would release just as many other workers to 

 go afield, these workers keeping up the heat w'AiVc doing the work in 

 the hive, and in their turn becoming storers, whereas the drones work 

 neither in the hive nor afield. 



Honey-Exehange Advertising— Marketing Honey. 



On Nov. 3rd we received the following, which will be read with 

 interest: 



Editor American Bee .Jol-rnal: — Notwithstanding the fact 

 that we are very busy helping producers find a market for their honey, 

 packing our bees away for winter, etc., we must take time to say, 

 Bravo, to your remarks regarding honey exchanges or asssociations, 

 on page 691. We were laboring under the impression that all such 

 were a free lance, and welcome to all the space they could use in our 

 bee-publications. We have often thought that with that advantage, 

 such organizations should be making much more progress than they 

 really are making. 



But now, " look a-here," you spoiled it all with that 14V.;-cent 

 honey article which followed close on the heels of it. The Illinois 

 bee-keeper that got that for his honey had to get it on the market be- 

 fore the trade became posted. Our early sales were at 14 cents, but 

 the large majority of our customers could not get their honey ready 

 for them on account of the factories failing to furnish them shipping- 

 cases in time. . 



Then we had to drop to 13 cents. At this price we got a consid- 

 erable sprinkling of our sales filled, some car-lots, etc. But now, 

 where is the market in which any considerable amount can be sold at 

 more than 12 cents spot cash * And that is the only thing that counts 

 now-a-days. We are in close touch with all markets, and ship to 

 them all, and we know of none unless the " case '" idea is worked. 



Our hobby has been for several years, "Cash at the producer's 

 depot." Counting the vicissitudes attending the shipment, sale, etc., 

 of comb honey, we can not figure out much more than 10 cents for 

 what remains unsold of the crop, unless it is ofltered in car-lots, which 

 reduces the risk to a minimum, together with the freight and the 

 trouble attending the sale of a car-lot, which is often no more than a 

 500 or 1000 pound lot. 



We believe that the best work we can do is not to make honey 

 hard to get, to raise the price, but make it more popular. And we 

 would enjoy being assessed by the National for the purpose of adver- 

 tising honey. The majority of people must be interested in eating 

 honey before we will see the end of 10-cent honey, no matter how fine. 



The honey is excellent this season, and will be a great help in 

 advertising the sale of it for another season. 



Thos. C. Stanley & Son. 



We are more than ever of the opinion that the National Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association should in some way create a fund for the purpose of 

 advertising honey. Such expenditure would aid every producer of 

 honey in the country. Thos. C. Stanley it Son are dealers in honey, 

 and of course they are willing to contribute to such a fund. We be- 

 lieve not only dealers in honey, but bee-keepers as well, would be glad 

 to help swell the fund for such a purpose. All could well afford to 

 do so, we think, for it would likely cause such a popular demand for 

 honey as would increase the price not a little. 



We have noticed a glucose concern lately advertising extensively 

 an article of which they say, "Better than honey for less money." 

 Not satisfied with filching the good name of honey, they even go so 

 far as to use a picture of a straw hive with bees flying around it. What 

 a pity that the National is not in position to follow that up with the 

 advertising of the real honey ! Were we still in the honey-business, 

 we certainly would try to do something to counteract such evil effect 

 upon the sale of genuine honey. Of course, we would not be finan- 

 cially able to do very much, but we certainly would make the attempt, 

 and do all we could afford to do in that line. 



We hope that either the National will take hold of this matter, or 

 that the various honey-producers' associations or exchanges will get 

 together and begin an advertising campaign that will result in such a 

 big demand for genuine bees' honey that the beekeepers will simply 

 be unable to supply it even at a greatly advanced price. There is no 

 time like the present for such action. We believe it would have a 

 tremendous effect on the call for honey, not only for this year's crop, 

 but for the future crops of honey. 



Room Required for Cellaring Bees. 



This is a matter likely to be inquired about at this time of year by 

 those who, for the first time, desire to cellar so many colonies that 

 there may be fears as to sufficient room. Ten cubic feet for each 

 colony has been given as the proper amount of room, and is probably 

 not far out of the way. In the Bee-Keepers' Review, R. L. Taylor says 

 it would be well to allow two square feet of floor surface for each col- 

 ony it is to accommodate at any one time, thus allowing a cellar 20x20 



