122 



American Tiee Jonrnal 



fair to the men already in the business, 

 and it is just as unfair to encourage 

 others to come in when the prospects 

 are not good for them to succeed 

 financially. 



If "Optimist" is no nearer correct 

 in all his claims than he is when he 

 wonders if I am not planning to in- 

 crease my colonies in 1914, he is much 

 mistaken. Aside from winter losses, I 

 expect to have at least 100 colonies less 

 this year than last. As to nectar going 

 to waste in some localities, that has 

 happened for ages, and no one will be 

 held guilty of a heinous offense for 

 neglecting to try to gather all this 

 nectar even if there were no market 

 for it. 



Some places are overstocked now in 

 Ontario, as many know, and more than 

 that, many beginners fostered by the 

 help of the Ontario Association and 

 the Department at Guelph, are causing 

 this overstocking by starting up beside 

 men who have been in the business for 

 years. Of course. "Optimist" will say 

 that is all right; from his remarks he 

 is such a stickler for " sentiment " that 

 the baser things, such as the necessity 

 of a man feeding a family, should not 

 be taken into consideration. Unfortu- 

 nately sentiment of this kind, like love, 

 while decidedly pleasant and desirable, 

 does not go far in filling an empty 

 stomach. 



"The more honey there is on the 

 market the cheaper it will be," quotes 

 our friend. No one disputes that phase 

 of the argument. It is utterly foolish 

 to try and make honey cheaper than it 

 is now, when at present prices it is 

 lower than nearly all other lines of 

 food products. 



"Optimist" asks, with the large in- 

 crease in members, will we not get 

 legislation easier than before ? I don't 

 know, and at the present moment I 

 feel tempted to say I don't care. I do 

 not believe the extra membership ob- 

 tained is worth all the work and money 

 it cost. Many of these members came 

 in at 50 cents. We gave them a journal 

 as a premium that costs us 70 cents, to 

 say nothing of the cost of carrying 

 them along. The balance came in at 

 $1.00 each, so that leaves 30 cents to 

 their credit. After all, what does a very 

 large membership mean in the way of 

 benefits ? Candidly, I don't know. 



"Optimist "is "playing to the gal- 

 lery" when he mentions the fact that 

 Dr. Kramer, of Switzerland, has 9513 

 members, and " they all seem to suc- 

 ceed, too." A smarter bunch evidently 

 than we could get on this side of the 

 pond. Does my friend not know that 

 a very small percentage of these bee- 

 keepers depend upon the calling for a 

 liviiif; Z. One of my correspondents 

 stated in his letter that there are some 

 who would have us be like scores of 

 European beekeepers, who carry their 

 crop of honey to market on their 

 shoulders. 



Before closing let me quote extracts 

 from a letter received March 13. The 

 writer is one of the best known men in 

 the United States, but as the letter is 

 marked private, I cannot give his name. 

 Among other things he says : " Honey 

 producers had better increase the de- 

 mand for honey than the supply. In 

 act, it would be better for them if the 

 demand exceeded the supply, as the 



price would then take care of itself. 

 In my opinion this should be the chief 

 object and work of all beekeepers' or- 

 ganizations." " The keeping of more 

 bees, making of more beekeepers, and 

 producing more honey will be well 

 looked after by the manufacturers of 

 bee-supplies." All honey producers 

 who have discovered methods of doub- 

 ling the honey production, should be 

 advised to put such methods into cold 

 storage until the demand for honey is 

 equal to the supply, or keep more 

 bees." 



No doubt " Optimist " will call me 

 a selfish mortal, and perhaps he is cor- 

 rect, for I believe that self-preservation 

 is the first law of nature. Perhaps he 

 will call me a pessimist as well, but in 

 this he will be entirely mistaken. All 

 who know me personally, while they 

 cannot help but know that I have a lot 

 of failings, will at least give me credit 

 for being a " cheerful idiot." As to 

 selfishness, I have answered hundreds 

 of letters from beginners in every 

 province in Canada, and nearly if not 

 all the States in the Union, and while 

 I have never made wild claims as to 

 the possibilities of the business, if I 

 have ever written discouragingly to a 

 single one of these people I wish he 

 would remind me of it. In conclusion, 

 let us just use plain common sense in 

 this matter, and for the time at least 

 leave gush and sentiment alone until 

 we have something more encouraging 

 to warrant us in persuading people to 

 go into beekeeping for a living. 



Weather Conditions and Wintering 



The frigid weather mentioned in the 

 March issue continued through Febru- 

 ary, and March up to date has been 

 colder than usual. Although bees had 

 their last cleansing flight on Nov. 23, 

 and have since passed through so 

 much very cold weather, they appear 

 to be holding their own fairly well, 

 judging by external appearances. 

 Nearly all colonies I have peeped into 

 by lifting the quilt under the packing, 

 are nicely clustered and apparently 

 little the worse for their long confine- 

 ment. Of course, it is too early to say 



how the bees will come out, but I am 

 not looking for any great loss. Once 

 we get to the middle of March we hope 

 for fine warm days, so that we can see 

 the bees on the wing once more. 



While we have had little snow all 

 winter, the cold weather has kept what 

 we have from melting, with the result 

 that (March 13) the fields are still cov- 

 ered. This means that what little 

 clover we have (alsike) will be apt to 

 stand the winter fairly well, and be in 

 better shape to weather the trying 

 times later on when we have thawing 

 by day and freezing by night. 



Association Did Not Attempt to Sell 

 Honey 



While I agree with the sentiments 

 expressed by R. F. Holtermann, on 

 page 94 of the March issue of the 

 American Bee Journal, I would re- 

 mind our friend that he is in error 

 when he says that the " Ontario Bee- 

 keepers' Association " undertook to 

 sell honey for the members. I was in 

 sympathy with the effort referred to, 

 and think the work was commenda- 

 ble, but the ./.ssor/a;'/o« deserves neither 

 thanks or criticism for anything that 

 was done, as Mr. Pettit and some of 

 the students at Guelph, Mr. Weir in 

 particular, undertook this work on 

 their own responsibility. The execu- 

 tive had nothing to do with the effort. 

 Please do not give the Association any 

 honor for work it did not do, and at 

 the same time also refrain from cen- 

 suring it when not guilty, for good- 

 ness knows it has enough to answer 

 for without being blamed wrongfully. 



Saner Methods for the Future 



After all, friend Holtermann, don't 

 you think your article smacks a bit too 

 much of the " I told you so " principle ? 

 I am willing to admit that you have at 

 times tried to "put on the brakes," yet 

 in common with many of the rest of 

 us, you might have done better. It is 

 always easy to see the necessity of 

 locking the stable door after the horse 

 is stolen. While we cannot help the 



A Woman At'Iarist of Japan. With a Section of thk Ar'iARv. 



