January, 1914. 



American Vee Journal 



at hand when we shall regularly do our 

 reijiiiiiu'tiir zuillioul dequeening. 

 Providence, R. I. 



Shall We Encourage More 

 Beginners ? 



liV FRANK C. I'ELLETT. 



ON page 274, of the November num- 

 ber of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, Mr. Byer has an article en- 

 titled, "Too Much Rosiness." 

 From the trend of his remarks, I 

 am inclined to the notion that he is of 

 the number who would not encourage 

 large numbers of persons to enter the 

 business of honey production. Similar 

 protests appear so frequently, that I 

 am constrained to take the opposite 

 view. While there are many who take 

 too rosy views of things and offer too 

 much encouragement, the tendency is 

 entirely too much in the opposite 

 direction. 



Find me a prosperous community 

 anywhere and I will show you where 

 there is much interest in the business 

 in which the greater number of per- 

 sons are engaged. Here in Iowa, the 

 communities where fruit growing is 

 profitable are where it is highly devel- 

 oped. In my own county, there is 

 hardly an up-to-date fruit grower en- 

 gaged in the business on a commercial 

 scale. Every farm has a few fruit trees ; 

 and apples, and sometime other fruits, ' 

 especially plums, are a drug on the 

 local market in the fruit season. What 

 surplus there is goes to market in any 

 old package, and half of it rots in the 

 grocery store. In several nearby coun- 

 ties fruit growing receives much atten- 

 tion; the profits of the orchards are 

 published widely, and the fruit pre- 

 pared for market in the best possible 

 way. In those counties the orchards 

 pay, and pay big. I know some of their 

 owners personally, and know that they 

 receive cash returns from their crops 

 that make their stock-raising neigh- 

 bors fairly green with envy. 



If wt expect beekeeping to be re- 

 garded as a desirable occupation, we 

 must not be afraid to say that it is so. 

 On the other hand, every inducement 

 must be offered to beginners to join 

 the associations, attend the conven- 

 tions and subscribe for the bee jour- 

 nals. In my work as an inspector, I 

 seldom find a man who is a reader of a 

 bee journal who needs much help from 

 me. They frequently have had no ex- 

 perience with disease, and desire some 

 instructions, but they are familiar with 

 bees in general, and understand how 

 to proceed with the directions given. 

 It is the slovenly, back lot, box-hive 

 beekeeper who takes a little honey to 

 market in bad condition and sells it for 

 a song, who spoils the market and 

 makes conditions disagreeable. I know 

 markets where the business beekeepers 

 have been so persistent in educating 

 the public in regard to honey that 

 prices rule high, and when the slovenlv 

 beekeeper brings his junk to town he 

 cannot sell it at all without peddling it 

 from house to house. 



In my opinion, if the business of 

 honey production is to take rank along 

 with other lines, we must always put 

 the best side out, and educate the pub- 



lic until a man would be as much 

 ashamed to keep bees in box-hives 

 without attention as he would to farm 

 as his grandfather did. 



Of course, we should always take 

 pains to inform those interested of the 

 fact that beekeeping is a science, and 

 that it takes more brains to be a suc- 

 cessful beekeeper than to succeed at 

 most ordinary callings. The real facts 

 should be stated freely and without re- 

 gard to the number of persons who 

 may become interested in beekeeping. 

 In fact, I fully believe that the pros- 

 perity of the profession will increase 

 with the increasing interest. More 

 people interested will call the business 

 more prominently to public attention, 

 and demand for the apiarists' products 

 will be increased accordingly. Here 

 in Iowa, our oldest and most success- 

 ful beekeepers are most enthusiastic 

 about interesting new men in the busi- 

 ness, and it is the policy of the asso- 

 ciation to bring the honey-producers' 

 interests before the public as fre- 

 quently and forcibly as possible. 



J. J. Wilder, of Georgia, is a conspic- 

 uous example of what can be done 

 with bees by the right man. The fact 

 that there have been a thousand fail- 

 ures, to one such conspicuous success, 

 only emphasizes the fact that the limi- 

 tations are limitations of the man, and 

 not of the business. Of course, we all 

 agree that there should always be a 

 proper amount of caution as to what 

 can reasonably be expected in the way 

 of financial returns. To be afraid of 

 enthusiasm about one's business for 

 fear of possible competition, is to ad- 

 mit our inability to meet competition. 

 If the business of honey production 

 had long been held up as one of the 

 most desirable occupations, the bee- 

 keeper would be looked up to, instead 

 of sneered at. When even'body wants 

 to keep bees, the public will awaken to 

 the fact that it requires special skill to 

 be successful, and skill always de- 

 mands respect. 



Atlantic, Iowa. 



Comb Honey — Sections Well 

 Filled 



BY J. E. HAND. 



ON page 383, is an article under the 

 above heading by G. M. Doolit- 

 tle, setting forth the undesirable 

 features connected with the pei- 

 fect filling of sections with hon- 

 ey. I fully realize myperilous position 

 in expressing views that run counter 

 to those advocated by so able an ex- 

 ponent of apicultural lore, and my 

 dangerous habit of fearlessly express- 

 ing by honest convictions regardless 

 of who, or how many, ar& on the other 

 side will perhaps result in disaster to 

 my preconceived ideas, as usual. A 

 casual reading of the article mentioned 

 suggested the idea that it would per- 

 haps have been more appropriate in 

 the columns of a popular magazine, es- 

 pecially since it contains no informa- 

 tion for beekeepers, its chief office 

 evidently being to instruct the house- 

 wife how to select a section of honey, 

 as well as instructing Bridget how to 

 cut it out of the section without enough 

 drip to pay for licking the knife. 

 Assuming that Bridget and the house- 



wife are to be the judges in the discus- 

 sion, I will begin by addressing a few 

 remarks to Bridget; "Miss Malloy, 

 begging your pardon, I notice you have 

 a fine section of honey already to cut 

 out of the wood. I also notice that the 

 cells are capped solid to the wood, 

 while the other one has a row of empty 

 cells next to the wood all around it. 

 Will you please tell me why you choose 

 the well-filled one in preference to the 

 other ?" 



" I choose the fat one, your honor, for 

 the same reason that I would select a 

 fat chicken instead of a lean one. We 

 are going to have ' quality ' to dinner, 

 and this section is whiter as well as 

 fatter." 



Addressing the house-wife: "Mrs. 

 Skinner, that is a very fine section of 

 honey." 



" Oh, yes ; it will do very well for 

 common use; but I don't like it be- 

 cause of the row of empty cells clear 

 around it, which presents an unfinished 

 appearance, that of having been pulled 

 too soon. We buy them by the piece, 

 and when buying the fat ones I get full 

 value for my money." 



Allowing Bridget and the house-wife 

 to judge, Mr. l3oolittle has lost his 

 case. If he objects to such a one-sided 

 examination, permit me to suggest 

 that it is as fair for me to draw on my 

 imagination for facts as it is for him ; 

 and I venture the assertion that nine 

 intelligent women in ten will give 

 about the same answer. 



There is another angle to the situa- 

 tion that Mr. Doolittle has entirely 

 overlooked, and it is the most impor- 

 tant point of all. We are often com- 

 pelled to ship section honey long dis- 

 tances by freight in cold weather. Any 

 one at all acquainted with the nature 

 of empty combs in cold weather knows 

 that a slight jar is sufficient to dislodge 

 a section of honey having a row of 

 empty cells aiound it. In fact, we 

 never use a knife to remove such 

 honey in cold weather, si.Tiply give it 

 a tunk sidewise, and out it goes. 



On the contrary, a section of honey 

 capped solid to the wood may be 

 dropped flatwise upon a table in cold 

 weather repeatedly without dislodging 

 the contents. In fact, the colder the 

 weather the more waxy the honey be- 

 comes, and the more it will adhere to 

 the wood, and the only way it can be 

 removed is with a thin-bladed knife. 

 This desirable feature enables us to 

 ship such honey by freight and guar- 

 antee safe delivery to any destination, 

 whereas a sudden drop or jar sidewise 

 might result in disaster to sections not 

 well filled out and capped to the wood. 

 Undoubtedly Mr. Doolittle is able to 

 pack such honey so as to stand ship- 

 ment reasonably well ; but others may 

 not possess that knowledge, and the 

 result will be disastrous in the hands 

 of the inexperienced. 



I have had many section-honey trou- 

 bles, but the least of them has been the 

 fear that the bees would cap the ceils 

 solid to the wood ; and if Mr. Doolittle 

 has a lot of such honey, he is very 

 fortunate, especially since it will com- 

 mand the highest market price, stand 

 shipment by freight, and please the 

 purchaser upon arrival to its destina- 

 tion. 



Since these three points include the 



