THB SMERICJIINE BE® JOVRNSIL. 



167 



were mine, for I have the only Italian 

 bees in the neighborhood. 



After I found that they liad taken 

 another "round" of swarming, I be- 

 gan examining tliem, and took out as 

 many as 12 queen-cells to the hive. 

 From Aug. 15 to the 20th, I examined 

 all of my colonies, wanting to know 

 how many I would have to feed. There 

 was only a few but what had just about 

 a spoonful of honey to the hive, and I 

 thought it would be quite an under- 

 taking to feed 32 colonies that were so 

 strong. I had 10 colonies in the spring 

 of 1888, and they increased to 32 

 strong colonies. 



The fall honey-flow commenced 

 about Aug. 21, and I do not think that 

 I ever saw bees work so hard as mine 

 did. They filled the brood-chamber in 

 a very short time ; altogether they 

 stored 650 pounds of nice comb honey 

 in one-pound sections. The flow con- 

 tinued four weeks, or until the frost 

 eame. When one swarm issued on 

 Aug. 5, I was entirelj' out of founda- 

 tion for them to start on, and I did not 

 get any, because 1 thought I would not 

 need any more. I took a frame out of 

 another hive, and put it in with a little 

 syrup made of granulated sugar, and 

 in two or three days the queen was 

 laying, and they went to work making 

 comb in which to store honey. That 

 colony filled the brood-chamber and 

 stored 16 pounds of surplus honey 

 besides.. 



I put the bees into winter quarters 

 in November, and the hives were all 

 that two could lift. I have a long shed 

 for them, open to the east, and packed 

 them in straw. They are all doing 

 nicely. There are not many de.ad bees 

 to be seen us yet. I think that there 

 will be danger of them dwindling in 

 the sjiring, on account of the open 

 winter we are having. I like the Bee 

 Journal very much. 



Bushnell, Ills.. Feb. 23, 1889. 



THEORIES. 



Theoretical Knotvledge in the 

 Art of Bee-K.eeping. 



Read at tlie Indiana Convention 



BY G. K. HUBBARD. 



The proper place for theory to end 

 and practice to begin, before a per- 

 son's knowledge shall be accepted by 

 others without numerous reservations 

 or exceptions, is a diflicult matter to 

 decide in the thousand-and-one ques- 

 tions that ai'e constantl}' coming up in 

 life ; and of course in a pursuit like 

 bee-keeping, where much thought and 

 study are a necessary adjunct, the 

 question comes with more than ordi- 

 narj' force. • 



As in every other controverted ques- 

 tion, thei-e is in this a " golden mean " 

 to strike ; and in the judgment of the 

 writer, that person, who has readied 

 the half-way point between the two 

 extremes, is the successful apiai-ist. 



I am inclined to the opinion that 

 bee-keeping need not necessarily be 

 carried on by specialists, with their 

 hundreds of colonies, but that every 

 farmer or tradesman who can take an 

 interest in bees, should keep a few to 

 supply honey for home use. 



Among tlie great mass of bee-keep- 

 ers, as we find them scattered over the 

 country, there is far too little theoreti- 

 cal knowledge. Tliis is shown by their 

 ignorance of many of the facts con- 

 cerning the habits and characteristics 

 of bees, that the more intelligent api- 

 arist is as familiar with as he is with 

 the names of his near relatives. With 

 such persons, a thorough study of the 

 theory of bee-keeping will give them 

 more confidence in themselves when- 

 ever they wish to vaiy from some old 

 plan, or when a new difliculty presents 

 itself. 



In 1881, when I was quite young in 

 the bee-business, a gentleman asked 

 me to unite 2 colonies of bees for him. 

 I told him I never had done the like, 

 but knew how it was done (you see I 

 had the theory), and a little later, 

 when I had the 2 colonies in one hive, 

 acting as much at home as though they 

 had always been together, I bad made 

 a start in the "practical;" but the 

 theory first learned from books, was as 

 valuable as though the same knowledge 

 had been acquired from experiments. 



James Heddon has recentlj' said : 

 " I know pretty well who are the prac- 

 tical honey-producers in this country. 

 One who has reail and written for 

 papers, and produced honey on a large 

 scale for twenty years knows the dif- 

 ference immediately between a theo- 

 retical and practical writer. Such a 

 one, wlien reading an article, no mat- 

 ter how eloquently and skillfully writ- 

 ten, will at once and correctly deter- 

 mine whether the writer has an apiary 

 in his brain, or in his back yard. I 

 look with interest for articles from 

 such men as R. L. Taj'lor and others I 

 might mention, wlio ship their honey 

 to market by the carloads." 



Here is a good point. We accept 

 information from people whom we 

 know are well posted in apiculture 

 theoretically, witli much more cer- 

 tainty, if it is backed by large practice, 

 and especially so if abundant success 

 has crowned their methods of pro- 

 cedure. Let us not forget, however, 

 that it is rarely that a person will suc- 

 ceed in anything by being a mere im- 

 itator. You may read a plainly writ- 

 ten article on some subject, that takes 

 in more than a brief operation, like the 



uniting illustration just used (say for 

 example, "The production of comb 

 honey," or " A season's procedure in 

 queen-rearing"), and while we might 

 all be pleased to get the writer's views, 

 not one progressive, intelligent api- 

 arist would do exactlj' as described. 



Your own ideas and methods will 

 creep into all that you do ; and thus, 

 imconseionsly. j'ou adopt a i)lan of 

 30ur own. and with reasons, too, for 

 j"our metliod. You see the theory of 

 some one else, and your practice will 

 not always wofk ; but the theory varied 

 to suit your own surroundings, and 

 thus applied to your practices, will be 

 found to harmonize very well. This 

 implies intelligence and a qualification 

 we may call " tact." 



I mean by this, good judgment and 

 adaptability ; and I consider it per- 

 fectly fair to insert this qualification, 

 because I believe that a person who 

 has it not, would be more likely to fail 

 in almost any business. And as bee- 

 keeping is far from being an exception 

 in this respect, it is only fair to assume 

 that a reasonable degree of tact will 

 be employed in reducing to practice 

 the ideas suggested by others. 



Keeping in mind the idea which 

 this construction of the word " theo- 

 retical " implies, it will be seen that 

 we can very properly be theoretical 

 apiarists to quite an extent. But if 

 you should narrow down the neaning 

 of theoretical, so that it applies only 

 to that species of speculation which 

 never will receive a decisive answer, 

 and from the nature of the case cannot 

 be reduced to practical advantage in 

 the apiary, then of course there can be 

 but one answer to the question. 



The bee-keeping fraternity cannot 

 be benefited by people who "dream 

 dreams and see visions." We wish to 

 spend our time on that whicth will 

 make us more successful from a doUar- 

 and-cents stand-point ; that which will 

 enable us to more completely control 

 our colonies as we wish ; that which 

 enables us to put a first-class article of 

 honey on the market, with tlie least 

 expenditure of labor ; that which will 

 enable a beginner to expect a reason- 

 .able degree of success when he puts in 

 practice the information that he has 

 gained from others. Such theoretical 

 bee-keeping is at once theoretical and 

 practical ; and practical theories are of 

 great value, because they eari-y with 

 them satisfactorily explained reasons, 

 and give tlie possessor that intelligence 

 and perception that is at the extreme 

 opposite of " hick." 



In this busy, pushing world, it is the 

 intelligent, active man who wins — the 

 man who keeps posted, the man who 

 is quick to perceive, and apply valuable 

 points in what he reads. A person 

 who is well informed in current bee- 



