THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



203 



for a small profit, or even for nothing, his 

 products maj^ be worth as much as they 

 would be if his profits were large. No man 

 will retain his business by selling an in- 

 ferior article. Would the quality of the $1 

 queens be better if the same breeder charg- 

 ed $7 for them instead of $1 ? No ! and if 

 the $7 queens of Mr. Dadant were sold for 

 $1 1 think they would be just as good as if 

 he received $7 for them. Mr. D. has come 

 down more on the price of his queens than 

 any man in the business, and now he finds 

 fault because other people can sell for less 

 money than he can. 



The difference is not in the quality of the 

 goods purchased but in the profit realized 

 by the producer. Mr. D. says he has re- 

 ceived a number of letters showing that $1 

 queens are dear at any price. Well they 

 are unless they are projierly reared. 



"I do not expose these dollar queens for 

 business sake," says Mr. D. Of course you 

 don't; that is well put in; there might have 

 been some misunderstanding on that point. 

 However, I am of the opinion that every 

 one who advertises queens for sale, whether 

 it be at $1 or $7 each, does n«t understand 

 the business thoroughly, and I do not be- 

 lieve that a man with but one year's ex- 

 perience can raise good, perfect and prolific 

 queens. If I remember correctly, there has 

 been considerable said in favor of $1 queens 

 in the various bee papers, and I never saw 

 but little said in favor of .f 10 queens. Mr. 

 A. I. Root first started the $1 queen busi- 

 ness, and most breeders had to fall into line 

 or dry up— a thing most of them did. 



The best way to settle the question of $1 

 and $7 queens is for some disinterested per- 

 son to test them. Is Mr. D. ready for the 

 test ? A Reader and Dealer. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Over-Stocking. 



"Well, says one, " has not Jasper Hazen 

 written enough on that subject to convince 

 the most stubborn?" Yes, of course; but 

 let us look at another phase of the subject. 

 In all my reading on the subject of bee-cul- 

 ture, I have looked eagerly to see what the 

 writers had to say on over-stocking. Mr. 

 Langstroth says he smiles to hear any one 

 expressing fears on the subject. But not 

 one of them has said a word about over- 

 stocking the market with honey— a far 

 more important consideration than the 

 gathering of too many bees in one place. 

 We may all talk and write as we please 

 about the profits of our business, but if we 

 cannot sell our honey readily at fair prices, 

 the same as other products "of the farm, it 

 behooves us to be prepared for the worst 

 when it comes. Now, if our products come 

 into competition with the necessaries of 

 life— flour, meat, potatoes, etc.— then surely 

 we might strain every nerve to increase 

 both the amount of our honey and the num- 

 ber of our colonies, but such is not the case. 

 Honey comes in competion with the lux- 

 uries of life— fancy articles, which the 

 grocer keeps for sale. 



Now let us look for a moment at the 

 honey markets, as reported in the Chicago 

 weekly papers, and wiiich are not supposed 

 to have any special interest in the honey 

 markets. I turn to one dated March 24, 

 1877, and read: 



"Little doing except in a small way; 



choice white, quotable at 15@16c. ^ ft; but 

 in lots holders could not realize more than 

 14 or 1.5c. Strained, at 8c." 



Now as we raise honey in lots we could 

 only get the latter price, and then deduct 

 commission, etc. But I read an article in 

 the May number from Prof. Cook, who 

 states that bees will give from 100 to 300 per 

 cent, profit on the capital invested. Now, I 

 don't believe any reader of the Joukxal 

 can convince me that bee-culture pays bet- 

 ter than farming, both being conducted 

 intelligently. Our farmers here are content 

 with 10 per cent, on capital invested, with 

 as good land to farm as there is in the State. 

 But it may be asked why do we keep bees ? 

 I will answer this. I keep them because I 

 like them so well, and because I expect if 

 taken good care of, they will yield me as 

 much profit as anything else on the farm. 



Cambridge, 111. J. V. Caldwell. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Barnes FootPower Saw. 



I will add my testimony to those given in 

 the May number, in favor of Barnes' foot- 

 power saw. Some 8 years ago I tried to 

 saw my lumber for bee hives by a horse- 

 power saw. But, for some defect in the 

 inachme, it did not work, and the $100 put 

 in it was a dead loss. 



,.P,^ course, after such a trial, I was very 

 little disposed to buy a new sawing ma- 

 chine, yet I resolved to send for Barnes', on 

 trial. I received it about 3 weeks ago. We 

 had about 10,000 ft. of laths to rip for our 

 frames. The machine was very soon put 

 into w'orking order. We were astonished 

 to see the ingenuity of its construction. Of 

 course we had to learn how to run the 

 machine, and how to file and set the saws— 

 both of these arts are neither difficult nor 

 take long to learn, yet unless you have 

 mastered them you cannot succeed. Suffice 

 it to say that altera few days my son suc- 

 ceeded as well as desirable, and that now 

 nearly all our frames are nailed (about 1700) 

 although my son worked only during the 

 rainy days, with a boy 14 years old helping 

 to nail the frames. Our machine will soon 

 be paid for by the saving of money yearly 

 given to the lumber mill for laths. The 

 work is nearly as smooth as if planed. 



The scroll saw is a true plaything, and so 

 light to run. The cross saw is a little 

 harder to run, but works fast, and I could 

 not imagine, before seeing it, that a 16 ft. 

 board could be cut in two, and true to 

 square, on a table saw only 28 in. square* 

 andwhat a smooth cut ! The four sides of 

 a hive cut by this machine can be nailed 

 without being planed, as is the case with 

 hand-sawed boards. 



As to the rip saw, if you want to work 

 fast, you must choose the dryest and softest 

 wood for the frames, as it is the hardest to 

 run. The grooves in the hive can be made 

 by the saw, and truer and faster than with 

 the plane. In fact, now that we have tested 

 this machine to our satisfaction, we would 

 not sell it for any price, were we unable to 

 get another. 



I am so well pleased with this machine 

 tliat I will try to have it introduced in 

 France and Italy. I have just written to 

 the bee journals of both these countries to 

 make it known among the bee-keepers 



Hamilton, 111, Ch. Dadant. 



