122 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



observation, and a disposition to 

 hear all that one can npon the spec- 

 ial snbject. 



Emergencies will occnr needing 

 heroic treatment, but the beekeeper 

 with mind and hand trained b}' ex- 

 perience and thoughtful considera- 

 tion of his "specialty," will rise 

 superior to any occasion, and when 

 discouragement comes, as it inevi- 

 tably will, in the words of the im- 

 mortal Longfellow, "He will look 

 not moui'nfully into the past, it 

 comes not back again, but wisely 

 improve the future for it is his." 

 ■ Pleasure and profit go hand in 

 hand, as a rule, in this specialty, 

 although the former is not unal- 

 loyed by a liberal application of the 

 "business end" of the little busy 

 bee, and the latter by a recurrence 

 of poor honey seasons. In nature 

 are found both the beautiful and the 

 sublime ; in the hive both are 

 constantly under the beekeeper's 

 eye, teaching him to look with 

 amazement from "nature up to na- 

 ture's God." As he views his hive 

 and sees the city grow, and popula- 

 tion increase, the waxen walls, and 

 stores well filled, the free-born cit- 

 izen hurrying to and fro, each with 

 his special task, outside of the 

 thoughts of profit will come to the 

 most unimpressionable, thoughts of 

 wonder and admiration for the 

 works of that great Architect of the 

 universe who said, "Let there be 

 life and there was life." 



The profits of beekeeping are 

 what ? To many a one the}' hold 

 out the hopes of "the glorious 

 privilege of being independent ;" 

 and to obtain these profits the spe- 



cialist, gifted with the requisite 

 mental and p^iysical qualities, must 

 be "the right man in the right 

 place." He must have hives of the 

 movable-frame order. Moses Quin- 

 by wrote thus, in 1858 : "There is 

 not the least doubt, in ray mind, 

 that whoever realizes the greatest 

 profit from his bees will have to 

 retain the movable combs in some 

 form ;" and who of us will gainsay 

 this to-day? Out of the many styles 

 of movable-comb hives now in ex- 

 istence, the beekeeper will select 

 one best fitted for the business in 

 which he means to engage, be it 

 the production of comb or extracted 

 honey, queen-rearing, bee-selling, 

 or a combination of all. 



The specialist who intends to 

 rear bees for sale will do well to 

 employ that hive which will take 

 the size and style of frame most 

 in use in the district in which 

 he resides. Interchangeability of 

 parts is a grand secret of success, 

 and the beekeeper who can sell a 

 colony of bees, or buy a colony 

 well knowing that each and every 

 frame is usable in his own or his 

 neighbors' hives, has made a step 

 in the right direction. The main 

 points in a good hive are, "Sim- 

 plicity of construction, combining 

 plenty of bee-space with perfect 

 ease of manipulation." 



The race of bees will next engage 

 the specialist's attention. Study 

 and experience, and also the actual 

 line of business engaged in, will 

 best decide this point. The black, 

 the Italian, the Syrian, the Cyprian, 

 and the Carniolan, alike have their 

 votaries. At present, for all pur- 



