Jan. 18, 190O. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



35 



howlers " in the world to-day is because there are so man y 

 who are more interested in loafing- around and listening- to 

 idle gossip than they are in their chosen pursuit in life, and 

 take more interest in a game of cards, chess or checkers, or 

 hanging around the saloon or country store, than they do 

 in studying on something- which will lift them up morally 

 and financially, or make them of real, practical use. 



Besides the American Bee Journal take all the other 

 bee-papers you possibly can ; and, first, and before any of 

 these, be sure to procure at least one good book on bees. 

 Why I say procure the book, or hooks. Jirs/, is, that no man 

 or woman is ready to understand the bee-papers until they 

 are in a certain measure acquainted with the first or ele- 

 mentary principles of our pursuit. There is scarcely a 

 week passes but what I receive lists of questions which I 

 know would never have been askt had the writers a good 

 book on bees, and had they read that book understandingly. 

 From these books and papers the mind is stored with useful 

 knowledge, which can be put in practical use as soon as the 

 active bee-season of 1900 opens. 



When I first thoug-ht of bee-keeping- I procured the 

 "Bee-Keepers' Text-Book," by King, and "Quinby's Mys- 

 teries of Bee-Keeping." As soon as I had read these I sub- 

 scribed for the American Bee Journal and The Bee-Keepers' 

 Journal, the two latter being all the papers there were de- 

 voted to bees at that time. All of this before I had a single 

 colony of bees, and I was so interested in the books that 

 I had them as familiar as a nursery rhyme. This, together 

 with what I found in the bee-papers, placed me where I 

 was ready to do something somewhat intelligently, and I 

 procured my first two colonies in the spring of 1869. 



That season was the poorest season I ever knew, but I 

 recorded 12 pounds of honey and one swarm from the two 

 old colonies, so I had three in the fall ; but I had to feed 

 some 40 pounds of sugar to give them stores enough for 

 winter, which I did, as the books told me the way to do it. 

 And that the readers may see where the price of honey once 

 went, I will say I was offered 50 cents a pound for that 12 

 pounds of honey, right at my door. 



I read and studied bees from all and everything I could 

 find during all of my wakeful hours, and dreamed on them 

 when asleep, and the reader will pardon me for saying- that 

 I am still doing the same thing, having- greater zest in bee- 

 keeping, and in raising it to a still higher standard, than in 

 anything else. 



When I read anything which I consider new and supe- 

 rior to what I am now using^, I jot the name of the paper, 

 number and page where it is to be found, on a piece of sec- 

 tion, then I put it in the " pew " holding all such things 

 which are appropriate to a certain month, having 12 of 

 these " pews," and then when the month comes around I 

 take out all there is in there, spread them out, and thus I 

 have all of these valuable things before me. 



Yea, more. When I am at work preparing hives, sec- 

 tions, queen-cages, etc., during the winter, or with the bees 

 during the summer, my thoughts are always " running " on 

 the subject of bee-keeping, and when something new strikes 

 me, which thought seems of value, I " whip " out my piece 

 of section and pencil, jot it down, and as soon as I arrive at 

 the " row of pews," in it goes at the proper place, to spread 

 out before me at the proper time. 



Yes, further : Some of my dreams are jotted down ; 

 and allo-w me to say that one of the most useful things 

 found in our queen-rearing of the present was " dreamed 

 out," and put in practice as soon as I was awake, namely, 

 the queen-cell protector. To be sure, it did not come in its 

 perfection, as Mr. West now has it, but the thing in its 

 crude form came in something seen in a dream by a bee- 

 keeper having the bee-fever, and that fever has been rag^- 

 ing now over 30 years. 



In reading over the above, I see there is a good deal of 

 Doolittle in it, and I beg the reader's pardon, but I really 

 did not see how I could tell you just what I wanted to with- 

 out giving some of my personal experience. 



In conclusion, I wish to say in all kindness, if any per- 

 son loves something else more than he does to study into 

 bee-keeping, or does such study only as a sort of duty, let 

 him be assured that he has mistaken his calling, and the 

 sooner he leaves it and goes to that which at all times gives 

 him pleasure the better off he will be in this world's goods, 

 and the better it will be for the world. 



If there are any who read this, who have no love for 

 anything except to sit around all winter " whittling a 

 stick," whirling the time away in that way, let me say to 

 them that the world would have been better off without 

 them, and that these lines were not intended^for them, un- 

 less they can turn over a " new leaf." CD 



Report of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention. 



The Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association held its an- 

 nual convention at the State House in Springfield, Dec. 26 

 and 27, 1899. 



As some of the trains were late getting- in, the forenoon 

 of the first day was spent in getting acquainted with new 

 members, and in a good, social time. At 1:30 p.m. the 

 meeting was called to order by Pres. Smith, who addrest 

 the meeting in a few well-chosen words. The secretary 

 read the minutes of the last meeting, which were then ap- 

 proved. The treasurer's report showed that on account of 

 our funds largely g-oing to subscriptions for the American 

 Bee Journal, our treasury did not become very flush. 



The committee on legislation reported at length, recit- 

 ing the ill-treatment they got before the House Appropria- 

 tion Committee, when asking for a foul-brood law. Chair- 

 man Curtiss and Dr. Vincent, with only a few others, were 

 our friends. Our Bill past the Senate without opposition. 



FOUL BROOD. 



The subject of foul brood was then discust. 



Mr. Black — If I had it among my bees it seems to me I 

 would want to burn them, but I don't know how infectious 

 it is. 



Mr. Gastman — My bees had foul brood a number of 

 years ago, and I would feel like burning them — hives 

 and all — if they should get it again. 



Question — Can foul brood be brought thru the intro- 

 ducing of queens ? 



J. Q. Smith — In two cases that I know of it came 

 in that way, but the queens came in 3-frarae nuclei. I 

 could not say as to their bringing it if they had come in 

 cages thru the mail. 



The following resolution was adopted : 



Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that each 

 member of the Association use his greatest influence with 

 his candidates for the next legislature, to secure the passage 

 of a foul-brood law. 



A paper written by Dr. C. C. Miller was then read, on 

 this subject : 



Bee-Keeping as a Sole Business. 



Now and again the questions come up, " How much 

 profit is there in bees ?" " Can one make a good thing of 

 it with bees alone?" "Would you advise me to make a 

 sole business of bee-keeping?" etc. 



To meet such questions fairly and squarely is not 

 always an easy matter. There are generally two sides to a 

 question — sometimes more than two. Let us look at some 

 of the sides of these questions. 



John Smith got an average of 475 pounds of honey 

 from each colony of bees in the year 1897. It is said one 

 man can take care of 100 colonies without help. If he 

 should get 475 pounds from each of a hundred colonies, and 

 if it should be sold for 9 cents a pound, that would make 

 S4,275 a year, and in ten years that would amount to the 

 snug little sum of $42,750, the interest of which might sup- 

 port him for the rest of his life without work. 



That looks very nice on paper, but it may be well to 

 mention some modifying items. John didn't get that 

 amount of honey every year. The two preceding years he 

 got no surplus, and some years his bees not only gather no 

 surplus, but have to be fed to keep them from starvation. 

 Take one year with another, and he can get no 9 cents a 

 pound for extracted honey. He has kept only a small number 

 of colonies. With 100 colonies there would be a slump in his 

 average yield. Few locations have such honey-yielding 

 flora, and it is not likely that in his lifetime will John ever 

 again meet with conditions so favorable as in the year 

 mentioned. 



It is not an uncommon thing to hear this or that man 

 say that nothing on his farm has paid better for the 

 amount invested than his bees. He will give plain figures 

 for it to show that $50 invested in 10 colonies of bees netted 

 him more clean monev than twice the amount invested in 



