334 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



personal competence and the consequent 

 competition— conduce to generate activity 

 in every ]HU-suit that promises reward. Tlie 

 few possessed of many acres steadily driv- 

 ing an ignorant labor to the production of 

 ■one great staple, must to a very great ex- 

 tent, give place to the individual on a few 

 acres striving in every way that intelligence 

 can dictate to better his condition. The 

 final result can but be happy, for no country 

 •can be highly prosperous when devoted too 

 eagerly to one pursuit, which like Aaron's 

 rod, swallows up all the rest. Among the 

 industries which will tend to give diversity 

 and profit at the same time, is bee-culture. 

 The profusion and long continuance of 

 bloom and the geniality of climate being in 

 accord with the nature of the bee and favor- 

 ing out-door wintering; the comparatively 

 light labor required and the intellectuality 

 and poetic beauty of the pursuit (it having 

 been called "the poetry of moral life,") 

 should draw general and intelligent atten- 

 tion to it in this section. The use of the 

 movable frame hive, the ease of artificial 

 propagation and the extractor as a harvest- 

 ing machine, give system to the pursuit and 

 place it beyond hazard and their advantages 

 are such as to dissipate the densest ignor- 

 ance and prejudice in favor of ancestral 

 ways. Let me picture a scene which could 

 ^e easily realized by vast multitudes of 

 farmers in the South. Let me place an ac- 

 tive and intelligent farmer on 80 acres, a 

 -quantity of land easily acquired here. If 

 he is near a shipping point he can devote a 

 portion of his farm to fruit, strawberries, 

 peaches, etc.. and realize largely by early 

 shipment north. He cultivates enough 

 cround in corn, wheat, oats, rye, millet, 

 sweet and Irish potatoes, vegetables, etc., 

 tor use on his farm and limited sale, if he is 

 invited by large profit to sell; he has tine 

 stock, houses, mules, cows, hogs, sheep and 

 goats, etc., because he can easily take care 

 of them and does take care of them; he has 

 proper pasture and buildings for his stock 

 and crops and a comfortable cottage, though 

 it need not be air-tight, as our winters are 

 mild and not a great deal of fuel required. 

 In addition to these things, he has a few 

 acres well fertilized and cultivated which 

 make him a bale of cotton per acre, with 

 from 45 to 50 dollars per bale and last but 

 not least, a humming and busy apiary of 

 50 100 or 300 hives with movable frames 

 and the attendant extractor, that yield from 

 5 to 10 dollars per hive. Such a man would 

 certainly enjoy the "glorious privilege of 

 behig independent" and when such things 

 are possible, and we are still dependant, 

 having our smoke house and granary in the 

 West and clothing establishment in the 

 East, we must see that "it is not m our 

 stars, but in ourselves that we are under- 

 lings " Oscar F. Bledsoe. 



Grenada, Miss., Sept. 13, 1877. 



[The above is written to compete for the 

 queen offered in September number. The 

 writer in a private note says: •' I hope you 

 meant a pure tested. He further adds, " I 

 desire such a queen in a ' Nucleus Hive ' 

 and will pay the difference if I am so fortu- 

 nate as to be awarded the queen." "Well, 

 Sir, as a greater inducement, we will amend 

 our proposition and agree to make a present 

 for the best written article for this depart- 



ment, any time from the present until and 

 including the April number, a nucleus colo- 

 ny of Italian bees, with a pure tested queen 

 bred from one of our imported mothers. 



" What is your price for a highly colored, 

 pure tested queen in a nucleus hive with 

 Langstroth frame?" 



We will furnish such with 3 frames for 

 five dollars. 



"I would have written at greater length, 

 as I desired to say something as to proper 

 hive for the South, but thought my article 

 had reached a proper length. I claim the 

 privilege, if necessary, of writing further 

 as a continuation of said article." 



Certainly, you and all others are entitled 

 to that privilege, and we hope to have at 

 least one article for each month. — w. j. a.] 



»-»-y » » 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A New Use for Honey. 



I have used honey this year to make my 

 wines and preserves, am greatly delighted 

 with the result. I think honey is much 

 better for those purposes than sugar; in 



f)reserving fruit there is a great deal of 

 abor saved, as you do not have to make and 

 clarify syrup; a pound of honey will also 

 go about one-third farther than a pound of 

 sugar. Preserves made with the darkest 

 honey I have, are fully equal to those made 

 with the best quality of brown sugar, and I 

 must say that I am delighted to think that 

 so much use can be made of honey at home. 

 Mrs. M. Dunbar. 

 Washington, La., Sept. 8, 1877. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Dollar Queens. 



Dear Sir:— I see a great controversy in 

 your Journal in regard to dollar queens. 

 If we had to make our calculations as Mr. 

 Dadant, I have no doubt that it would be a 

 loss to raise such queens; but I must differ 

 in this. 



Since I have imported queens from Italy, 

 I have been experimenting on queen raising, 

 not only because my intention was to enter 

 the field and sell dollar and tested queens 

 for sale, but also for the purpose of Italian- 

 izing all the bees around here, and I must 

 say that my experience is entirely different 

 from Mr. Dadant's, and that there is money 

 in the dollar queen business, if one can sell 

 all he can raise. Therefore, I am deter- 

 mined to sell dollar and tested queens next 

 season from imported mothers and I have 

 no doubt that after deducting the loss and 

 paying advertisements that the profit will 

 be satisfactory. 



In raising queens by the nuclei system as 

 given in Oleanings, I see more profit than if 

 the colonies used for the purijose were kept 

 for surplus honey. With five colonies, or 

 rather part of colonies, I can raise an aver- 

 age of five dollar queens a day and if I have 

 sale for them I think I would be making 

 more than if I ran these colonies for honey- 

 Now since I have been keeping bees I 

 never had any colony to give me more than 

 8 to $10 as an average. Having no sale for 



