THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



341 



well as of extreme importance, have 

 presented themselves; questions of such 

 a nature that onl_y the specialist, or 

 one who has been specially trained, 

 can bring- the result of his efforts into 

 practical use — men of ordinar}' intelli- 

 f,^ence and ability will not do. 



That bee- keeping- has received a 

 wonderful impetus within the last year 

 or two there can be little doubt. This 

 too long- neg-ltcted pursuit is at this 

 time receiving: special attention. The 

 Department of Agriculture, at Wash- 

 ington, has been awakened to its possi- 

 bilities, the various State experiment 

 stations are offering- short courses in 

 bee-culture, and some have even ar- 

 rang-ed correspondence courses for those 

 unable to attend the school. There is 

 certainly plenty of room for specialists 

 in the bee-keeping ranks, and, as in 

 any business, their efforts, properly di- 

 rected, will result in g-reat benefit to 

 himself as well as toothers; in fact, no 

 well directed effort is spent in vain. 

 The bee-keeper who will specialize 

 will soon ffnd that his word has be- 

 come authority, and, furthermore, his 

 service will quite likely be in demand. 

 The bee-keeper vvho vyill specialize 

 will have studied the various bee 

 diseases, and will be in position to 

 eradicate any disease the minute it be- 

 comes manifest in his apiary; yes, he 

 will quite likely g-o a step further, and 

 apply such preventive measures that 

 his bees will not become diseased; he 

 will have mastered the question of dis- 

 posing of his honey crop at the hig^hest 

 possible price obtainable; in fact, he 

 will so direct his efforts that his pro- 

 duct will be in demand; he will be 

 able to reduce winter losses to a mini- 

 mum, as a result of his thoroughly 

 studying- the essential features of suc- 

 cessful wintering; the blooming of all 

 nectar producing plants will receive 

 like consideration, in fact, the whole 

 subject will be held up and studied on 

 every side. It is the men who have be- 

 come thoroug-hly acquainted with the 

 elements underlying- success at every 

 point, to whom we must look to carry 

 this work forward. 



There are too many people who look 

 in bee-culture as a business of little 

 importance; in fact, enough would 

 laugh at the idea of making bee-keep- 

 ing- a specialty. Others have not suffi- 

 cient confidence in themselves to "keep 

 all eg-gs in one basket," but is it not 

 true that the men making a specialty 

 of their business are the most success- 

 ful ? Is it not true that with a com- 



bination of pursuits a man must direct 

 his thought and energ-y in several 

 places at the same time, not being- able 

 to bring the best out of any of them, 

 while in making a specialty of one 

 pursuit his whole thought and effort is 

 centered t) one point? And is it not 

 true tiiat only in this manner will the 

 hig-iiest success be achieved ? 



Let us rememb-r that what is worth 

 doing at all is worth doings well; it is 

 worthy our best eft'orts, and I assure 

 you that if proper remedies are applied 

 bee-culture will be brought to a very 

 high degree in the near future. 



THE SWARMING OF BEES. 



The Causes and Some of the Methods 

 Whereby it May be Prevented. 



The tendency of the times is towards 

 specialty, towards the establishing of 

 out-apiaries, and the keeping of more 

 bees. The one great obstacle to suc- 

 cess is the inability to properly control 

 increase, and the Review has set itself 

 the task of removing- this obstacle, or 

 lessening it to the greatest possible 

 extent. It is none too soon to beg-in 

 the discussion of the question, in order 

 to help beekeepers in this direction 

 another season, and it is doubtful if 

 the discussion can be started more 

 satisfactorily' than by copying from 

 the Western Bee Journal an exhaustive 

 article by that past master on this sub- 

 ject, Mr. Stachelhausen of Texas. It 

 is a long article, I think the longest 

 the Review has ever copied, but it is 

 well worth the space it occupies. 



In the Western Bee Journal for May 

 I find some interesting articles written 

 by Mr. Adrian Getaz, one of them on 

 the prevention of swarming. About 

 the cause of swarming Mr. Getaz says: 



"Before treating- a patient the doctor 

 must ki-iow what ails him, and before 

 treating our swarming bees we must 

 know the cause of their swarming." 

 Reading thus far, I expected Mr. 

 Getaz would explain these causes, as 

 he is one of the scientists in our bee- 

 keeping fraternity, but this expectation 

 was destroyed when I read the follow- 

 ing sentence: "Or, if not actual causes 



