36 



THE BEE KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



of the old tree, having bees in it taken from 

 the forest, as a start, called a "log gum," 

 of the change from " taking up " the lightest 

 and heaviest hives in the fall to the putting 

 on of the 15-pound boxes for surplus honey ; 

 then the change from these large boxes to 

 the 6-pound " caps," from these to the two 

 pound sections, and from these to the one 

 pound and smaller sections of to-day. All 

 of this has come to pass within the last half 

 century, and all been seen with my own 

 eyes, and handled with my own hands. 



I can also recall how the vast forests loom- 

 ed up where now there is scarcely such a 

 thing as a forest, simply small bits of wood- 

 land so sparsely occupied with timber that 

 you can almost look through them ; how the 

 old mill used to run the year around with 

 water from the brook, while now the old bed 

 of what is a raging river almost, at some 

 time of the year, and no brook at all the 

 larger part of the summer season, is as 

 noted for its absence of fish as it used to be 

 with us boys for the many of the finny tribe 

 we used to angle for with a twine string to 

 which was attached a bent pin for a hook at 

 one end, and a willow sprout at the other 

 end for a pole. Yes, all this has happened 

 within fifty years, yea, within forty years, 

 and as the editor says, all these changes 

 brought about by the onward march of civil- 

 ization have been against the surety of a crop 

 of honey each year. The change in the mode 

 of apiculture has been to the advantage of 

 the world, but of what consequence are im- 

 proved methods of apiculture unless there 

 are nectar-producing flowers. I firmly be- 

 lieve that there are places in the United 

 States which have in the past produced flora 

 of sufficient amount to make apiculture very 

 profitable, which will soon have to be aban- 

 doned altogether for such use, on account of 

 this change which has come over the country 

 under our advanced civilization. In such 

 places as these the only thing that can be 

 done is for the bees to succumb to the inevit- 

 able. There are still other places,, as alluded 

 to by the editor, where bee-keeping, as a 

 specialty, can be carried on for all time. 

 But what about those places, which go to 

 make the great average of the country, where 

 bees can make more than a living for a short 

 period during the year, so that in really 

 good years they give a surplus to their keep- 

 ers, over and above what they consume ? 

 For such places I see nothing but non- 

 specialty. Bro. Hutchinson says " he has 



always advotated specialty." In this he has 

 differed from myself, for I do not believe 

 that the greatest good can come to the great- 

 est number, where specialty is applied along 

 the line of agriculture. Not but what I be • 

 lieve that, financially speaking, a specialist 

 may do better than one following mixed 

 farming, unless we except bees and some 

 few other things, but when we come to call 

 the greatest good, dollars and cents, we are 

 making one of the greatest mistakes possi- 

 ble. I would have every persd^ become in- 

 terested in bees for the grander, higher and 

 more noble views which may come to them 

 through bee-keeping, if for nothing more. 

 I would also have them keep bees for the 

 health and recreation there is in this part of 

 agriculture, letting the looking after the bees 

 be to them as a play spell, if I may be al- 

 lowed such expression, for in this will come 

 a rest of body and mind, and also a leading 

 out of thought from nature to nature's God, 

 thus in a certain sense bringing all face to 

 face with Him with whom we all have to do, 

 and before whom we must all appear at the 

 close of life to give an account of our stew- 

 ardship while here below. If beyond and 

 above this there shall be something of a 

 financial nature, or some of the precious 

 sweets from the hive for our families, this 

 will appear as profit ; for the fun, etc., we 

 may get out of keeping a few bees will as 

 fully pay expenses as is ever done when hav- 

 ing socials, parties, or tramping off through 

 fields and wood with rod or gun. 



One thing in the editorial I take excep- 

 tions to, and that is the sentence " Farmers 

 dropped the business (bee-keeping) because 

 they could buy their honey more cheaply 

 than they could produce it." If there was 

 ever a time in which this held true it certain- 

 ly is not at the present time. I appeal to 

 you, Mr. Editor, if this is not so ? Only 

 think of a farmer giving a bushel of wheat 

 for four pounds of honey, or of his giving a 

 pound of wool for one and one-half pounds 

 of honey, and then say that he can raise the 

 former more cheaply than he can produce 

 the latter ! No! No!! Heleft off bee-keep- 

 ing because the hard winters killed off his 

 bees after tlic forest had been cut off, so that 

 he became discouraged, and not taking the 

 bee literature of the day so as to overcome 

 the wintering' problem, he unwillingly left 

 off that branch of agriculture, and as a rule 

 his family as unwillingly went without the 

 honey. Under the grinding heel of the 



