1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



25 



little behind his work ; and how much easier it seems when 

 "we are able to do to-day what must be done not later than to- 

 morrow. 



Delays in any kind of work on the farm or in the "apiary 

 are not only dangerous, but very often they are the cause of 

 great loss. One day late may raeau a great loss at planting- 

 time, or its damage or ruin at harvest-time. 



If the farmer or bee-keeper makes it a rule to do every- 

 thing on time, or a little before it is absolutely necessary that 

 it be done, and losses come to him from wind or weather, he 

 bas no reason to blame himself, as he has done all that he 

 could. 



The influence of farm and bee papers cannot be][over- 

 estimated. It is a rule that will apply to any community, 

 that the man who reads the papers and acts according to the 

 advice given in them, 's the more intelligent and prosperous 

 than the man who does not read. It is because of, their read- 

 ing, that farmers and bee-keepers of certain States and Prov- 

 inces have a wide reputation for intelligence and progressive- 

 ness. 



It will be a good idea to begin the new year with a deter- 

 mination to so uianage your business as to always have the 

 upper hand, no matter what may happen. Think the whole 

 matter over this winter, while you have time, aud lay your 

 plans for next season's campaign. Have enough provisos in 

 reserve so that in case the unexpected or unfavorable should 

 occur, you will not be at a loss how to proceed. No good gen- 

 eral ever goes into a battle without a well-defined plan, and 

 neither should the bee-keeper or farmer. Circumstances may 

 change some of the details, but the main plan can generally 

 bo carried out. 



Why not try this year to do a little better than we have 

 heretofore ; to give the bees better attention ; to put up the 

 honey (if we have any) in a more attractive condition ; to 

 make our homes and surroundings more inviting and comfort- 

 able; to treat our friends and neighbors a little better ; to be 

 more cheerful and good-natured ; and to make those who live 

 with us think we are the very best people in the world. 

 < » > 



The 'Wisconsin Convention.— The twelfth an- 

 nual meeting of the State Bee-Keepers' Association will take 

 place at Madison, in the capitol, Feb. 6 and 7, 1896. The 

 following is the splendid feast as arranged : 



President's Address — F. Wilcox. 



Advantages in Location — H. Lathrop. 



Sweet Clover as a Honey-Plant — J. J. Ochsner. 



Size of Brood-Chamber — C. A. Hatch. 



Production and Sale of Comb Honey — F. Murray. 



Production atid Sale of Extracted Honey — J. Hoffman. 



House-Apiaries — B. Taylor, of Forestville, Minn. (Mr. 



Taylor will be there to read his essay.) 

 Benefits of a Foul Brood Law — N. E. Franco. 

 Commission Men — L. M. Willis and S. T. Fish & Co. 

 The free for all question-box is always interesting. 



As other State societies are in session the same week, all 

 are enabled to get excursion-rates on all railroads, if you get 

 full-fare certificate wherever tickets are purchased. It will 

 pay you to attend, if at all possible. 



Mr. N. E. France, of Platteville, Wis., is the Secretary. 



International Bce>Kcepers' Congress. 



LContinued from page 23.] 



Atiout Neiiv Bee-Papers— "Well Put.— In the 



December Rural Californian we find this wise paragraph from 

 Prof. Cook : 



There are now seven or eight bee-journals published in 

 the United States, and rumor has it that another is to be born 

 at an early day in Southern California. Malthus' law applies 

 to bee-journals with a vengeance. Would it not be better to 

 make the journals now in the field better, rather than to start 

 others to be poorly nourished, to languish and die prema- 

 turely ? This has been the history of scores of journals, 

 though occasionally one comes to stay, which proves that it 

 has a place in our bee-literature. 



That theme is "BEE-C0LTURE." I want to speak of several 

 questions under this head. 



We live in a time of a most dangerous state of " unrest " 

 among the people, the foundation of which is undoubtedly a 

 " falling away " from self-reliance and Christian honesty, and 

 t?!is has precipitated the "war between labor and capital." 

 The cause is mistaken for the effect. Is there no remedy for 

 this menacing state of things? Perhaps yes, and may be no, 

 for the prophets tell us of a " day" (a time) that will admit of 

 no remedy — no patching up, and that time is pointed out as 

 the concluding years of this age or dispensation. Neverthe- 

 less, whatever may be the time now, written with invisible 

 fingers on the chronological dial of the age, it is our duty to 

 meet and deal with things " as they are," and as we find them 

 in the world, and one of those conditions is, increasing com- 

 petition, that makes it harder for the laboring man or woman 

 to live now than ever before. Hence, if the coming together 

 of this apicultural congress can help to introduce a new and 

 fairly remunerative occupation among our rural people, they 

 will have done a good and lasting work. 



The South is the home of the honey-bee. The apiary can 

 be operated in the South with less labor and with more cer- 

 tainty in general results than anywhere else in North America. 

 And yet our people are slow to reap these advantages. We 

 have blindly "despised small things," though they may aggre- 

 gate millions. 



It is a fact that might be practically demonstrated, that 

 millions worth of precious nectar — that costs nothing in human 

 labor, and relieves Nature of her surplus without impoverish- 

 ing — goes to waste every year, because there are so few bees, 

 under the management of skilled apiarists, to gather and store 

 it. Let the most observing among men walk in the fields in 

 "blooming season," and notice the tiny flowers at his feet, 

 and in the trees and shrubbery about him, and if not an api- 

 arist, he sees no wealth in them all, only as his sentiment 

 comes to his relief, and enables him to say, " It is a wealth of 

 beauty !" But let a practical apiarist occupy these same fields 

 with Ills bees, and he will see more than the other — he will 

 see wealth in beauty, and wealth iu realization. 



I am not carried away by mere sentiment, when I say that 

 no rural pursuit is more pleasing to the senses, more soothing 

 to the natural fatigue of labor, and more profitable in propor- 

 tion to the amount of capital employed, than is the usually 

 called " little business " of honey-producing. I might illus- 

 trate thi? with practical facts. With 50 colonies of bees, and 

 two months' labor on my part — no inconsiderable part of 

 which was light work — I have cleared as much as $4:50. Of 

 course, in bee-culture, this means a whole season's occupancy. 

 Other seasons I have cleared rnach less. 



Bee-culture, as pertains to the production of honey, de- 

 pends as much for successful output upon weather conditions, 

 and perhaps more, than other agricultural pursuits. This 

 fact has done much to make bee-culturea drag. The beginner 

 in bee-culture cannot endure bad seasons at the start. The 

 fact is, no man or woman can succeed in the business of pro- 

 ducing honey for the markets by the application of mere 

 drudgery and toll. There is something else essentially neces- 

 sary, and that is some sort of enthusiasm or fascination for 

 the business of keeping bees. This may be a natural love for 

 the study of entomology, or some sort of fascination for the 

 peculiar manipulations that are necessary to the modern man- 

 agement of bees. This fact makes it improbable that the 

 production of honey will ever be overdone. But there are no 

 inconsiderable number of men and women who possess the 

 necessary qualifications for apiary work (if the facts were dis- 

 covered to them), and this should be one of the aims of asso- 

 ciated efforts. 



There is no better way to meet sharp "competition " for 

 " bread " than by enlarged occupation — " verified labor." The 

 apiary will help in this direction. 



It has occurred to me that there is but the one product of 

 the earth that is truly a warming, nourishing food for man, 

 pre-eminently delicious to the palate, that springs into per- 

 fection, in its season, by the touch of an unseen hand, and dis- 

 appears as quickly if not utilized by bees. That product is 

 Iioney ! — the synonym of all that is sweet and good in the 

 earth. 



May the same unseen hand touch our lives into sweetness 

 down to the end, which shall be but the beginning — ever- 

 lasting ! G. W. Demakee. 



The questions of evaporating unripe honey, and "how 

 to best educate the Southern dealers and consumers as to the 



