THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



337 



ADVANTAGES OF ASSOCIATION. 



The National Association has not 

 yet been able to assist its members bj^ 

 purchasing' their supplies at wholesale, 

 or by selling their honey, although it 

 has aided them in both ways, indi- 

 rectly, but there are several local asso- 

 ciations which have been of decided 

 benefit to their members in the matters 

 of buying and selling. For instance, the 

 President of the In3'o County, Cal., 

 Association writes me that, during the 

 past two years the Association has 

 purchased all supplies at wholesale 

 rates, and sold the honey for cash up- 

 on delivery at the railwaj' station. 

 The money value of the transactions 

 reached about $50,000. The members 

 have received their g'oods at much 

 lower rates, and sold their product at 

 a decided advantag'e. He believes that 

 they have as simple and practical a 

 plan for a local organization as that 

 possessed by any association in the 

 countrj'. 



SOMR BRIGHT EXAMPLES. 



Nearly every school boy has been 

 told that if he studied hard and was a 

 good boy, he might become a great 

 man, possibly the President of the 

 United States. Bee-keepers have been 

 told how Adam Grimm made a fortune 

 out of bees and started a bank; W. L. 

 Coggshall with his hundreds of. colon- 

 ies, and thousands of dollars in the 

 bank, has been held up as a shining- 

 example; and now M. A. Gill, of Long- 

 mont, Colorado, is producing comb 

 honey by the car load, year after year. 

 In reading over the proof sheets of the 

 statistical table that is being published 

 by Manager France, I see that Mr. 

 Gill has this year produced 70,000 

 pounds of comb honey. We may not 

 all be able to attain these grand suc- 

 cesses, but the pathway that leads to 

 them is plain. A good locality, a 

 large number of colonies scattered in 

 several apiaries, and some short-cut 

 method or system that enables a few 



persons to do the work by visiting the 

 apiaries at regular intervals. The 

 simplicity of the plan is astounding, 

 and it can be followed by any one who 

 has the necessary ability, enterprise 

 and "nerve." 



SPECIALTY VERSUS MIXED BKE-KE?:P- 

 ING. 



At nearly every National Convention 

 this question of specialty versus mixed 

 bee-keeping comes up, and there is al- 

 ways present a class that resents any 

 attempt at showing the advantag^es of 

 specialty. This class seems to think 

 that the farmer bee-keeper is the 

 "whole thing." Then as a clincher, 

 those are asked to stand up whose sole 

 source of income is bee-keeping. Three 

 years ago, at the Buffalo meeting, I 

 believe one man stood up. Dr. Miller 

 was not allowed to stand up because 

 he received pay for writing articles 

 for the bee journals. Abee-keeper who 

 kept a cow, or a few hens, or had a 

 g-arden, was ruled out. At St. Louis 

 four men stood up and said their sole 

 source of income came from bee-keeping 

 and no amount of quizzing could down 

 them. It seems to me that this sort of 

 argument is not exactly fair. It is diffi- 

 cult to find many men in any business 

 whose whole source of income (every 

 cent) is from that pai-ticular business. 

 To be fair, the specialists ought to be 

 compared in numbers with those who 

 arefollowing a mixed business. When 

 it is self-evident that greater success 

 comes from specialty in any line of 

 business, I am at a loss to understand 

 why any one should wish to combat 

 the idea. 



THE KEYNOTE OF THE ST. LOUIS EXPO- 

 SITION. 



Each National convention is dift'er- 

 erent from the others. Through it runs 

 a key note, or a motif, as they say in 

 music and painting, a predominating 

 chord that colors the whole composi- 

 tion. The St. Louis meeting is de- 



