80 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



FARMER-BEE-KEEPERS ALWAYS THINK 



THEY WILL "do BETTER 



NEXT YEAR. ' ' 



Some one made a statement at the 

 St. Louis convention that so many 

 farmers owned so many colonies of 

 bees, produced so many tons of honey 

 and purchased so many supplies, but 

 even that does not prove that it paid 

 those farmers. One might think if it 

 didn't pay them, they would not keep 

 on keeping bees; and this reminds me 

 of what an apple tree agent once told 

 me. After telling me how many apple 

 trees he sold every year in the same 

 territory, I said to him: "I should 

 think the country would soon be filled 

 up at that rate." He answered: "We 

 estimate that four-fifths of all the trees 

 sold to farmers will be destroyed by 

 stock, mice, and rabbits the following 

 winter, making us that much more 

 room to sell the following season." I 

 should have thought the farmers would 

 become discouraged, and quit buying, 

 but he said: "No, they don't seem to; 

 they all think they'll take better care 

 of them next time." Just so the farmer- 

 bee-keeper thinks he will take better 

 care of his bees next year, the same as 

 /have always thought. 

 ■ Speaking of how much honey farm- 

 ers produce, reminds me of another 

 remark the same agent made while 

 looking at my yard. He said: "It 

 beats all how many bees are kept by 

 farmers in the country I travel, and I 

 have often wondered what becomes of 

 the honey as I never see any in hotels 

 or restaurants, and hardly ever on the 

 farmer's table." I told him that the 

 trouble was most of the farmers hardly 

 ever got surplus honey enough for their 

 own use. He said: "Well, I guess 

 that must be the reason, then." 



ALL BEE-KEEPING ASIDE FROM SPE- 

 CIALTY IS NOT CONDEMNED. 



Now, if I understand Mr. Hutchin- 

 son right, he doesn't mean that 7io 



farmer, nor any one that has any other 

 property, should keep bees; or if he 

 is keeping them to dispose of his other 

 property and make his sole living from 

 bees. 



We must all be beginners some time; 

 and some of us beginners, no matter 

 whether doctors, lawyers, or farmers, 

 may turnout to be specialist bee-keep- 

 ers some time. I understand that he 

 means, a practical bee-keeper ca7i make 

 his sole living from bees alone, if he 

 understands his business, and it is not 

 necessary for him to run some other 

 business in connection to make a 

 living. If he has some other property 

 that brings an income, all the better. 

 I never heard him say a person should 

 invest every dollar he owned in one 

 particular business; for instance, bee- 

 keeping; but if he gives his entire at- 

 tention to bees, he can make a good 

 living at it. 



My reason for writing this article is 

 to give those who never tried farming 

 and bee-keeping combined, my experi- 

 ence and opinion on the subject. 



RiDGELAND, Wis., Feb. 1, 1905. 



[In my estimation, the foregoing is 

 the truest picture ever drawn of the 

 average farm-bee-keeping. The beauty 

 of it is, that it is tiot a fancy picture. 

 As the camera faithfully portrays 

 what stands before it, so Mr. Krause 

 holds up to our gaze his own actual 

 experiences. I presume some will 

 think the picture over-drawn, and there 

 is no doubt that much of the farm bee- 

 keeping is far above this, but the bee- 

 keeping specialist has little idea of the 

 manner in which the average farmer 

 keeps bees. Let a man serve as In- 

 spector of apiaries two or three 

 seasons, and it will open his eyes on 

 this point. Farming is a jealous mis- 

 tress — but not more so than bee-keep- 

 ing — and the man who tries to serve 

 both is often in much the same predica- 

 ment as falls to the lot of the man who 

 tries courting two girls. — Ed. Review. ] 



