1903 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



235 



Mr. and Mrs. L. K. Smith (Mrs. S. 

 A. Smith) of Grant. Fla., consti- 

 tute a harmonious and eminently suc- 

 cessful honey - producing company 

 of cfinsiderable pi'opoi'tlons, and it 

 has been the pleasure of the Bee-Keep- 

 er editor to meet and enjoy a brief dis- 

 cussion of things apiarian with these 

 progressive people, as they passed re- 

 cently through Fort Pierce, on pleas- 

 ure bent, aboard their boat. We all 

 have our favorite themes and pet hob- 

 bies, and that of ;^Irs. Smith is a most 

 worthy one— means by v^'hich the pro- 

 ducer of honey may reap a more com- 

 mensuT'ate reward for his labor. By 

 careful, expert handling of the crops, 

 and consequent excellence of the goods, 

 Mrs. Smith has developed a home de- 

 mand for extracted honey that is al- 

 most phenomenal, when the sparsely 

 populated condition of the country is 

 talcen into consideration; and it is a 

 noteworthy fact that with the ad- 

 vancing of the price of honey the sales 

 have -increased. People often prefer 

 to buy articles of food at a wholesome 

 price, as the cost is primarily consid- 

 ered an index of quality. Mrs. Smith 

 is evidently an apt student of human 

 nature, and upon the foregoing as- 

 sumption put up the price of choice 

 honey to meet the tastes of a fastid- 

 ious piiblic, and with gratifying suc- 

 cess. Mrs. Smith avers that the prev- 

 alent custom of shipping the crop hur- 

 riedly to the city dealer, at low prices, 

 is one which reacts to the detriment 

 of the general business, by establish- 

 ing permanently a standard of values 

 which the future efforts of bee-keepers 

 may not easily overcome. Unfortun- 

 ately for himself, the writer was "up 

 to his eyes" in pineapple planting at 

 the time of Mr. and Mrs. Smith's visit 

 to Fort Pierce, and was therefore un- 

 able to avail himself of the pleasure 

 of a real bee-keepers' convention with 

 such progressive bee-keepers — a thing 

 to which he looks forward as a future 

 possibility, with pleasant anticipa- 

 tions. 



cordially invite every present reader 

 to assist the editor in his efforts to 

 make The Bee-Keeper the most inter- 

 esting bee journal on earth. Items of 

 interest are solicited from all; and as 

 an incentive to take a hand, we will 

 send The Florida Magazine free one 

 year to one, two or three writers each 

 mouth, as an expression of our appre- 

 ciation of their interest. We cannot 

 undertake to return all articles which 

 fail to merit this premium, and all 

 matter submitted must necessarily be- 

 come our own. However, it is quite 

 likely that most competing letters will 

 be awarded a year's subscription, as 

 stated, and we hopefully anticipate a 

 generous response. The "Magazine'' 

 is an excellent 84-page, clean, whole- 

 some family magazine, devoted large- 

 ly to text and beautiful pictures of 

 "The Laud of Flowers." Where are 

 the Hutchinsons, Heddons, Doolittles, 

 Dadants, Millers, Martins, Clarks, etc., 

 etc,, of the rising generation? The 

 American Bee-Keeper is scanning the 

 apicultural horizon. We want some 

 of the new ones with us. Who are 

 they? Where are they? 



The American Bee-Keeper has for 

 years been alert to discover among 

 its constantly increasing list of 

 readers, new and competent writers 

 — those who possess the faculty of 

 writing entertainingly upon instructive 

 or interesting apiarian subjects. We 



General Manager N. B. France, 

 Platteville, Wis., of the National Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, requests us to 

 announce to members that if any have 

 failed to receive his list of questions, 

 supplied on a special blank for the 

 purpose of enabling him to compile 

 for their benefit valuable information 

 in his forthcoming annual report, a 

 postal card request will bring it 

 promptly; and all are requested to as- 

 sist in the matter. Also, any who would 

 care for one of the "National" badges, 

 and have not received one, may have 

 it by simply asking, at the same time. 



The Bee-Keeper's Chicago corres- 

 pondent advises that "honey is coming 

 to market quite freely, and is of first 

 quality. This fact induces the trade 

 to take it, and people are of the opin- 

 ion that it is going to be reasonable 

 in price — two factors which go far 

 towards marketing the product." 



An unprecedented demand for sam- 

 ple copies, together with a wholesome 

 influx of new subscriptions during the 

 past month, has completely exhausted 

 our September edition.. 



