THE AMERICAN APICULTURI8T. 



21 



We cannot regulate the rainfall, 

 neither can we supply the deficiency 

 until we are prepared to irrigate our 

 land, which in most of the eastern 

 states is impracticable and not to be 

 considered. 



Much paper has been wasted and 

 valuable time squandered in trying to 

 educate "the dear people" to '•'•eat'" 

 honey. 



Total abstinence has been agitated 

 for many years, and sumptuary laws 

 enacted in at least thi-ee states, but 

 still whislcey is consumed in every 

 state in the Union, the traffic in the 

 vile stuff made legitimate by legisla- 

 tive enactment, and the venders 

 lliereof by requirement are considered 

 and held to be '■'•resj^ectable" men in 

 the community. 



Tlie difference in the two articles of 

 commodity is just this : After a man 

 has once acquired the habit of drink- 

 ing intoxicating liquors, he must have 

 (or thinks he must have) it every day. 

 A man may buy a pound of honey to- 

 day, and i)ronounce it "very good ;" 

 but he does not thereby acquire an in- 

 ordinate appetite for it, and say he 

 cannot do without it to-morrow. A 

 confirmed drunkard will spend his 

 last nickel for a glass of beer, but the 

 most attractive display of honey will 

 not lure him into the corner grocery 

 where it is kept for sale. He spends 

 his money freely for tobacco and ci- 

 gars, but his family who dearly "love" 

 honey go without. Let Brotlier Root 

 send out a few more car loads of 

 smokers. Neither is honey a staple 

 article, or one of the necessaries of 

 life like whiskey (?), corn, flour and 

 potatoes ; consequently its consump- 

 tion depends upon the ability of the 

 masses to purchase the same. NO 

 ONE will undertake to sell at a less 

 price than the cost of production, no 

 matter whether he be saint or sinner, 

 preacher or layman ; and so far as ed- 

 ucating the masses is concerned, no 

 one has suggested to my mind a prac- 

 tical solution of the enigma. 



If a man has not the money and 



cannot get trusted for luxuries, it is 

 very plain he must be content to go 

 without. 



Then, honey as it is now regarded 

 an article of luxury may be likened to 

 horses and carriages, sealskin hats 

 and cloak, etc., the rich will buy them, 

 the poor go without, as the Irishman 

 once said : "The rich can ride in 

 chaises, but the poor can walk if he 

 plazes." 



In view of the above facts I am 

 fully persuaded that a beginner who 

 is seeking to make the production of 

 honey his sole and only means of live- 

 liliood has made a serious mistake ; for 

 disastrous results will surely follow 

 an over-production in that line of bus- 

 iness, and liable to plunge both him 

 and the specialist into bitter disap- 

 pointment if not abject poverty. 



The darkey who was detected steal- 

 ing a saddle, excused himself by say- 

 ing that there were a "certain number 

 of stole saddles to be stole, and a cer- 

 tain number of darkies to steal the 

 stole saddles," and this remark fits 

 pat to what I have been saying about 

 the production and consumption of 

 honey : that there will be a certain 

 amount of honey produced, if the sea- 

 sons are favorable, and a certain num- 

 ber to buy it. 



Madison, Neh., Dec. 21, 1889. 



Fixed Frames. 

 Z. T. Hawk. 



How wide shall combs be spaced?— Fertile 

 workers. 

 Within the last year a widespread 

 interest has been awakened in the 

 question of out apiaries and the trans- 

 portation of large numbers of colo- 

 nies of bees from one locality to an- 

 other in order to take advantage of 

 the varying periods of honey-flow. It 

 is evident that to be successful in 

 either of these comparatively new lines 

 of beekeeping the hive must be of such 

 construction that it can be prepared 

 for transportation with the least out- 

 lay of time and labor. The ordinary 



