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THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



June 



during this month, and is necessarily- 

 limited to the stock of back numbers 

 on hand. 



The agent, in any case, is entitled to 

 six months' extention on his own ac- 

 count. Furthermore, it being under- 

 stood that no list of less than ten new 

 subscribers will be awarded the "Grand 

 Prize," the editor, personally will pay 

 for the American Bee-Keeper Five 

 Years in Advance to the subscriber 

 sending in the largest list of new sub- 

 scribers before January ist, 1903. 



If a cash commission is preferred, 

 write us, and we shall gladly quote gen- 

 erous terms. We want at least a thous- 

 and new subscribers before January. If 

 our readers will kindly help us to secure 

 them, we will endeavor to convince 

 them that it is to their interest to stay 

 with us. What do you say"-^ 



Ah, — thank you! 



A NEW STAR. 



The Bee-Keeper Discovers one in the 

 Apicultural Firmament. 



A recent acquisition to our local bee- 

 keeping fraternity is a somewhat mys- 

 terious individual of stalwart physique 

 who enthusiastically proclaims, in 

 broken English, an endless array of 

 the most magnificent theories in rela- 

 tion to the bee-keeper's art, that it 

 has been our pleasure to listen to 

 since our interest in this fascinating 

 subject was awakened. 



It was a chilly morning, last spring, 

 while the thermometer was away 

 down to 65, or thereabouts, and a 

 gloomy March sky overhead, that The 

 Bee-Keeper man sought vainly for a 

 subject that would stimulate a more 

 active circulation of the blood and di- 

 vert his mind from the sombre weath- 

 er conditions which temporarily ob- 

 tained, that the new bee-keeper walk- 

 ed into the sanctum, apparently in a 

 great hurry, and inquired whether we 

 could not supply him with a few hun- 

 dred colonies of bees, as he had decid- 

 ed to engage in the business on the 

 coast. The very many prevalent fala- 

 cies abroad in the land were forthwith 

 elucidated, and the cause of failure in 

 all cases so lucidly explained as to 

 cause his audience to marvel at the 

 stupidity of the fraternity. 



At this writing, the new bee-keeper 



is discharging from a steamer some- 

 thing like 300 colonies of bees in a very 

 limited range, on the islands near Fort 

 Pierce — a range already containing 

 nearly 200 colonies. The gentleman, 

 upon the painted side of a hive, with 

 occasional intermissions in which a new 

 point is given his well-worn pencil, 

 clearly shows by figures, the exact 

 area of the accessible field range, the 

 number of bees in the field at this 

 date and the number for each month 

 hereafter, the approximate nectar pro- 

 ducing capacity of the territory, and 

 the otter impossibility of the bees to 

 gather ten per cent, of the product. 

 Overstocking, he asserts, is one of the 

 most ludicrous notions of our time. 

 "That extensive increase is obtained at 

 the expense of the honey crop," says 

 he; "is an idea even more foolish. It 

 is impossible for any one to secure a 

 full crop of honey without at least 

 doubling his colonies. If he will but 

 increase them by my method to a still 

 greater extent, his crop of honey will 

 be proportionately increased." 



The gentleman expects to invade 

 Cuba this fall with from 800 to 1000 

 colonies — the product of his original 

 270, with which he began the present 

 season — and says he will be in Ft. 

 Pierce next spring with not less than 

 2000 colonies, which he will make from 

 the 800 or 1000 which he will take 

 over this fall. 



"Where will this thing end; will not 

 a few years of this high pressure sys- 

 tem of yours result in securing' more 

 bees and more honey than you can 

 handle?" inquired the Bee-Keeper man. 



"Not a bit of it," says he, with em- 

 phasizing gesticulations, "there is no 

 limit. Ranchmen number their herds 

 by the tens of thousands; the success- 

 ful- farmers in the West have their 

 thousands of acres, and there is no rea- 

 son why the same rule should not ap- 

 ply to bees.'' 



The gentleman has some original 

 methods in handling bees, and we shall 

 watch his course with much interest, 

 and acquaint our readers with his plans 

 and progress as they develop. We 

 have already secured some interesting 

 pictures of his apiaries, etc., which will 

 appear in these columns. In the mean- 

 time, we give W. L. Coggshall due 

 v/an.iing to clear the track. The gen- 

 tleman says he has had ten years' prac- 



