February, 1914. 



American l^ee Jonrnal 



maintaining the price of honey by a 

 system of getting reports from all over 

 the country and then making recom- 

 mendations to the beekeepers as to 

 what price to ask for their product. 

 We thou!i;hl that we had at least par- 

 tially solved the problem, but this year, 

 with a bumper crop in many localities, 

 and a "tight money market" in all 

 localities, seemingly, things have gone 

 a bit differently from what we antici- 

 pated. When the public is not buying 

 an article that is not fairly abundant, 

 problems arise that are hard to solve 

 satisfactorily. 



.•\s stated in the January issue, it is 

 the opinion of many of us that a period 

 of conservatism in the matter of honey 

 production is a sane and wise policy to 

 pursue for the ne.xt few years at least. 

 Instead of preaching "Keep more bees," 

 or " Make more beekeepers," the solu- 

 tion of the marketing and distribution 

 problems would be more in order. As 

 president of the Ontario Beekeepers' 

 .■Vssociation for the current year, that 

 policy is the one that I shall endeavor 

 to encourage, and I shall deem it a 

 pleasure to hear from as many of the 

 members aspossiblethat are interested. 



Honey Production as Ranked With Other 

 Business 



I have read what Mr. Pellett has to 

 say on page 'i'l, January number, with 

 much interest. In some of his con- 

 tentions I agree with him, while on 

 some other things I entirely disagree. 

 Boom honey as much as you will, yet it 

 will never occupy a place on the table 

 along with butter, eggs, cheese, etc. 

 These staple articles were never higher 

 in New York State than at present, yet 

 honey is a drag on the market. Not 

 properly advertised you will say. 

 Granted that is the case, and yet what 

 about the advertising of eggs, etc.? 

 Reason as you will, when money is 

 scarce with the workingman he will 

 spend what he has for butter and 

 eggs, and for sweets he will buy the 

 cheaper syrups instead of honey. With 

 modern methods of honey production, 

 along with the instructions given at 

 colleges, I believe the business of 

 honey production can easily be over- 

 done. I cannot understand why men 

 depending upon it for a living should 

 be so anxious to encourage competi- 

 tion. .-^ few years ago the fruit and 

 canning industry was overdone. Did 

 the men behind the factories advise 

 more to go into the business and then 

 get busy and advertise their product ? 

 Hardly. They advertised all right, but 

 at the same time they curtailed produc- 

 tion for a year so as not to glut the 

 market. Besides fruit raising, poultry 

 keeping, etc., are not in the same line 

 as beekeeping, for while all our neigh- 

 bors can raise fruit or keep chickens, 

 the locality will not be overstocked. 

 With bees it is different, and overstock- 

 ing is very easily accomplished. Over- 

 stocking is being done now in some 

 localities by men who are getting their 

 chief instruction from colleges, etc. 

 The beekeepers have been largely re- 

 sponsible for this since they urged that 

 this subject be placed upon the cur- 

 riculum. 



" If the business of honey production 

 is to take rank along with other lines," 



says Mr. Pellett. Ah, there is the rub. 

 We do so like to be as other people. 

 The Israelites of old had the same de- 

 sires, seemingly, and wanted a king. 

 Their request was granted, and they 

 got more than they asked for. This 

 may be a crude illustration, but in my 

 humble opinion it describes very nicely 



the attitude of many who are contin- 

 ually booming beekeeping, and who 

 do not think there is any danger of its 

 being overdone. Look out that such 

 a policy does not bring "leanness" in 

 the end, to the very business they are 

 so anxious to place on a pedestal, so 

 that it will be like other callings. 



Notes From ^ Ab r oad 



The Home of Ny Boyhood 



BY C. P. I).\U.\NT. 



THOSE of you, dear readers, who 

 have been born in the spot where 

 you now reside may not find this 

 article interesting, but I am very 

 sure it will appeal to those who, 

 being like me on the downward path, 

 have long ago left the scenes of their 

 childhood and would like to see them 

 again. But it must interest mostly 

 those who, like me, are now citizens of 

 a country differing from that of their 

 youth, in language, customs, climate, 

 culture and habitations; where even 

 the flag is different. 



Think of returning, after -50 years of 

 absence, to the spot where you went to 

 school, where you left some of the 

 associates of your games! But the 

 bright-eyed maiden of 24, who taught 

 you some of the " Mother Goose " sto- 

 ries is now a white-haired, wrinkled 

 old lady of 74. The little boy who 

 could barely walk and say " papa," is 

 today a respectable business man and 

 a grandfather. 



The city of my birth, Langres, is one 

 of the oldest in Europe. Under the 

 Roman rule, at the dawn of the Chris- 

 tian era, it was already a city, Andoma- 

 tunnum, the capital of the Lingones. It 

 is on a high plateau, tiOO feet above the 

 surrounding valley, and strongly for- 

 tified. But the ramparts and battle- 

 ments, the moats and drawbridges, the 

 thick-walled towers have lost their use- 

 fulness. A modern shell-gun, out of 



sight behind the surrounding hills, can 

 send its deadly missils into the heart of 

 the place. Fortresses are obsolete, and 

 we hope war will, sooner or later, also 

 become a thing of the past. 



Modern ideas have overcome the 

 thought that man is safer on the top of 

 a cliff than in the valley. So the old 

 fortress has permitted a cog-wheel 

 railroad to scale its walls. But little 

 else has changed. The city will aston- 

 ish you with its white walls, that have 

 never seen coal smoke, its quiet streets, 

 in which only an occasional carriage 

 or the automobile of some tourists 

 break the monotony of the habitual 

 farmer's cart with enormous wheels, 

 delivering produce. Four of the five 

 convents within its walls, and both of 

 of its seminaries, have become vacant 

 since France has followed the example 

 of the United States in separating 

 church from State. Modern ideas are 

 replacing asceticism. Nuns are re- 

 placed by school teachers. 



You may follow one of the beautiful 

 white roads, lined with pretty gardens, 

 winding and ascending among those 

 avenues of trees, in Fig. 1, with a grade 

 of less than 5 percent. In a little while 

 you will find yourself at the foot of the 

 walls, in front of one of the seven 

 gates. Fig. 2. Enter this gate, and 

 looking back, you will see the gate 

 from the inside. Fig. 3. If you ascend 

 upon the rampart by a narrow stairway 

 on the right, and stand by the side of 

 those nurses, you will see in Fig. 4, up 

 the narrow paved street, the home of 



Fig. I.— View of Langres. the Bikthpi.ace of C. P. Dadant. 



