THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



223 



ure and satisfaction, at least to the 

 progressive beekeeper if no pecun- 

 iary gain follows. In our last we 

 made some comparisons between the 

 old and new methods of introducing 

 queen bees ; Ave might also, if we felt 

 capable, compare the new 7!s the old 

 method of raising them and show 

 that although the acme of success has 

 been reached, yet the expected pe- 

 cuniary results do not follow. Sup- 

 pose we compare the old box-hive 

 and method of getting the old style 

 of two comb four-pound boxes of 

 comb honey therefrom. I fancy that 

 Capt. Hetherington can look back to 

 those days and find the advantage 'fi- 

 nancially on the side of the old. He 

 may be able by the hew to produce 

 four times the amount of honey and 

 in a style that outshines the old as the 

 electric light outshines the rust, but 

 that other fo7'ce has brought the price 

 down to such a figure that the net 

 results in bank will not compare with 

 the old. But to view it through the 

 eyes of a philanthropist may give 

 some satisfaction, as many eat honey 

 to-day that could not get a smell then. 

 I see in the Sept. "Api" some notes 

 on "Advanced Bee Culture" from L. 

 C. Root, in which he gives some as- 

 tonishing figures, the result of the 

 new vs the old under favorable cir- 

 cumstances. Well, in this branch of 

 our science the old certainly cannot 

 compare favorably with the new but 

 this is one of those cases where we 

 can almost say a new article is pro- 

 duced; as the present production of 

 extracted honey can not be classed 

 as the same goods with the strained 

 honey of old, and yet, I fancy Mr. 

 Root carried more money home in 



his wallet from his honey sales twenty 

 years ago then he does to-day. 



Still we would not go back to those 

 days. Although we may not be as well 

 off pecuniarily, we are rich in knowl- 

 edge. Our children enjoy the advan- 

 tages of an enlightened age. Where 

 we paddled our canoe, they ride 

 in steam palaces ; where we jogged 

 along in the old stage coach, they are 

 whizzed along by the lightning train ; 

 a day with them now was a week 

 with us then, and we look on and 

 wonder, and grow chronic in making 

 comparisons with the new vs the 



OLD. 



Brooklyn, N. Y. 



THE UTILITY OF FEEDERS. 



Br Henry Alley. 



A GOOD bee feeder is appreciated 

 by every apiarist, as every one who 

 keeps bees has more or less use for 

 such an article during his beekeeping 

 experience. There are in use as 

 many styles and patent feeders as 

 patent hives. All of them possess 

 more or less merit, and nearly all 

 will do the work for which they were 

 designed. I do not have a very good 

 opinion of an "entrance" feeder. 

 Unless great care is used, robbing 

 will be induced. Then again, what 

 advantage does an entrance feeder 

 have over a feeder used over the 

 frames ? The former can be used only 

 while the weather is warm, as the bees 

 will not and cannot cluster near the 

 feeder to keep up a proper warmth 

 while at work removing the syrup. 

 The above are very serious ob- 

 jections to an entrance feeder. Now 



