1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



IT 



not rudely brush aside the charm of a 

 " hobby " when £. s. d. is the predom- 

 ioant factor in the case ? 



Then, I ask, why should bee keeping 

 be tolerated as the pleasant pursuit 

 we believe it is only so long as it pavs 

 well ? None will dispute the fact that 

 a "paying hobby" is a rara avis, but 

 1 take leave to say that our hobby 

 comes under that category. Nor is it 

 a mere figure of speech to say that it 

 is one of the most pleasure-giving 

 pastimes conceivable to those who pos- 

 s a love of the country and of na- 

 ture's wonders. For the scientific 

 mind, too, there is a fund of delight- 

 ful research in studying the bee and 

 its ways, sufficient to amply recom- 

 mend bee keeping from that side of 

 the question. But when we come to 

 regard the keeping of bees only as a 

 paying concern, and find our hobby 

 disparaged because of the low price 

 the bee keeper has to take for his 

 produce, or because we are doing away 

 with its advantages by enlisting too 

 many recruits in our Associations, it 

 is, to my mind, ignoring much that is 

 well worth thinking of among the 

 many pleasures of bee keeping. Those 

 who expect to make a fortune out of 

 it will, of course, be disappointed; but 

 lag are we to take no account of the good 

 ID it does to one's health and strength to 

 ru be up and out in the early morn of 

 u iummer time among the bees? An 

 ti hour so spent — before breakfast and 

 :;nt :he daily journey to town — is surely 

 •:S ivorth something. Again, what is the 

 ai ?ood of worrying, as some do, because 

 ( i )f the fear that "too many are start- 

 ;tlif ng bee keeping? It does not create 

 am iistrust and suspicion among neigh- 

 4 )ors, but the very opposite. At least 

 j-l . find it so, and my official experience 



as a county secretary goes to prove 

 that in the gieat majority of cases 

 love of the pursuit tends to promote 

 an amount of friendly feeling and 

 kindly regard between members such 

 as will be found in few associations, 

 whatever their object. 



I contend that bee keeping is, par 

 excellence, a health giving recreation, 

 no less for a busy man than for the 

 studious scientist. And I also again 

 say that, if followed earnestly and in- 

 telligently, it will yield more profit 

 for the labor involved than any pur- 

 suit that can be included in the term 

 "home hobby." But when it is re- 

 garded simply as an occupation for 

 money making, and worrying about 

 because honey is fetching a penny a 

 pound less this year, all the joy goes, 

 and one fails to see the pleasure of it 

 in any shape. 



I write this because of hoping to 

 see in the coming year more general 

 heartiness on the part of bee keepers 

 in supporting county associations, not 

 for the direct or personal good derived 

 from membership, but for the ail- 

 around benefit afforded to the craft, 

 in standing together for the general 

 advantage which only co-operation 

 can give. Those who have to bear 

 the burden of the work done all over 

 the kingdom will, I am sure, feel 

 more encouraged to continue it, if 

 members and bee keepers generally 

 would regard the industry a little less 

 closely from the £ s. d. point, and 

 think more of "the pleasure of it," I 

 say this, "knowing whereof 1 speak." 



Our 1898 catalogue will not be 

 mailed before February 1st, but or- 

 ders can be made up from our 1897 

 catalog, as there will be very few if 

 any changes in prices for next season. 



