1907. 



New York for "Crude Wax" (not re- 

 fined, containing more or less for- 

 eign matter,) was thirty-three and 

 one-half cents to thirty-four and one- 

 half cents, while "Refined Wax" was 

 quoted at thirty-six cents to thirty- 

 seven cents, all prices f. o. b. New 

 York. Much of the wax furnished by 

 bee-keepers here will class as "Re- 

 fined." Where the lots are small or 

 are shipped from a great distance ihe 

 freight charges would naturally fall 

 on the seller, but not otherwise. Not 

 much love wasted on the dear bee- 

 keeper in a thirty-cent bid for a thirty- 

 seven cent product. (M.) 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 99 



INDUSTRIOUS LAZINESS. 

 This is the way Mr. D. M. Macdon- 



BEE CULTURE IN AFRICA. 



Mr. F. W. Drummond, a Bee-Keep- 

 er subscriber of South Africa, writes: 



"The bee-keeping industry in Natal 

 is not worth bothering with. The 

 people in Durban are not enterprising 

 enough. I got 21 sections of honey, 

 well filled, and had them put up in 

 American cases with my name print- 

 ed on the case, and tried all over town 

 to dispose of them. The only en- 

 couragement I got was: 'Sorry, but 

 there is no demand for it.' If this is 

 all I can get after expending twenty 

 pounds on bees and hives, I have giv- 

 en it up as a bad debt. The people 

 here want one to give them the hon- 

 ey, or else sell it to them at two 

 cents per section." 



Mr. Drummond writes that he con- 

 templates coming to either Canada 

 or the United States to locate. While 

 this journal would hesitate to ofifer 

 encouragement to anyone Who aspires 

 to the acquisition of wealth through 

 the production of honey, in coming 

 to America, there are, doubtless, op- 

 portunities in other lines, for money- 

 making, while apiarian conditions are 

 not so gloomy as Mr. Drummond has 

 painted the situation in his present 

 location. (H.) 



aid, of Scotland, goes for our associ- 

 ate editor, in the British Bee Journal: 



"Bees Ridiculously Lazy"? — Oh, 

 Mr. Arthur C. Miller! To punish you 

 I won't quote another word of your 

 "ridiculous" contention on page 2. 

 There! Here are some classic quo- 

 tations for the other side: — "In their 

 labour at home and abroad bees ,ire 

 so admirable that they may be a pat- 

 tern to men. Their labour never ceas- 

 eth" (Butler). "As honey excels all 

 otiher things in sweetness, so doth 

 bees all other insects in wisdom and 

 industry" (Rusden). "A bee is a 

 magnum in parvo, a little in quanti- 

 ty, but much in work" (Purchas). 

 "The bee of all insects is certainly 

 the most indefatigable in its labour" 

 (Warder). "Bees are of all creatures 

 the most laborious" (Levett), "Ex- 

 cellent labourers" (Lawson). "Bees 

 are the most industrious of all our 

 animals, never at rest while they have 

 matter to work upon" (Worlidge). I 

 could add indefinitely to these ex- 

 tracts, but refrain as I may be told 

 this is "ancient history." True; but 

 the new is not always the true, and 

 the true is not always the new. These 

 old bee-masters, over 300 years ago, 

 learned a truth which, apparently, 

 some bee-masters of the present day 

 are trying to unlearn. 



While Mr. Miller is, obviously, 

 abundantly able to take good care of 

 himself in this discussion, it is evident 

 that his premises are frequently mis- 

 understood by his critics. While Mr. 

 Miller would probably concede that a 

 colony of bees, collectively, would 

 serve well to typify industry, yet the 

 prevailing idea that each individual 

 bee is constantly active during the 

 working season is an error. If a gang 

 of 60,000 laborers were employed on a 



